Resurfaced and a Dragonstone
by UnknownBlackHand
Summary: New Chief of Berk, a new Chief of Dragons, a little Divine intervention, a wonderful treasure, and an old enemy. Set a little bit after the events of HTTYD2. It's going to be big. Reviews appreciated.
1. Chapter 1: Divine Intervention

**Chapter One: Divine Intervention**

It was dark in the room, lit by only a single torch. Standing before a red-haired man was one of his gods, a man with snow-white hair, beard, and mustache, wearing armor as well as a red cloak, and on the top of his head was a golden helmet with white wings set on its sides. The red-haired man lowered himself down to one knee before the other man.

"Please, Stoick, stand up." The white-haired man ordered. Stoick got back up to his feet and the other man spoke again: "As you already know, I am Odin. I've watched you during your last battle, and I was greatly impressed."

"Are you showing me to Valhalla?" Stoick asked.

"You didn't let me finish... My sons and I saw fit to save you from the flames of your funeral pyre. You see, we decided that while your death would've been very noble by stepping in front of a Night Fury about to kill your son, it wasn't the ending you deserved. We happen to know that if you hadn't blocked the blast, Hiccup would've ducked it and would have snapped the dragon out of his trance. You had also forgiven and saved your wife who you had thought dead for twenty years. Stoick the Vast of Berk, Valhalla will welcome you, but we will wait for your arrival. Right now your village will need you." Odin replied.

"What for?" Stoick asked.

"Drago Bludvist is still alive and will be returning to your village stronger than before. He is also hunting for a very rare treasure." Odin replied. He lifted his helmet and pulled out a most beautiful gemstone with what appeared to be the silhouette of a dragon inside it.

"Is that a Dragonstone?" Stoick asked.

"Yes, it is. A mystical gem created when many different dragons circle in the air and breathe their fire and take their shots into the center, finished with the blast of a Night Fury. The making of this stone is a fantastic display, and very few know everything that the stone is capable of doing. Drago Bludvist will be looking for one of the older ones, but on Berk a certain dragon plans on making one for your son."

"I'll do whatever I can to keep Berk safe... but if I'm still on the Island of the Bewilderbeast, and the battle being over, how will I get back to Berk?" Stoick asked.

"You'll find a way. Now, Loki and Thor were the gods who pulled you out of your pyre, and you are in a safe spot, but I have the feeling that they may've given you a few things. I suppose you'll see for yourself soon enough. It is time for you to wake up." Odin replied.

* * *

Stoick looked into the ocean water now and saw that the gods had trimmed away the hair of his once impressive beard that had been singed in his pyre. It was about six inches shorter and it was no longer splayed across his chest as it was before. The braid that once held his hair at the back of his head had been undone, and if he was a building, he would've been weather-worn and in need of a paint job. He was covered in scars, caused by the shards of ice that Toothless dislodged with his blast, and burns from the pyre.

The gods also saw fit to give him a new wardrobe too. He assumed that his clothes had been burned up in the pyre. He wore a great blue tunic, black trousers and boots, an impressive chest plate, a helmet that also covered the top half of his face, and a large black cloak with a hood. He may've been battered up, but he was still as impressive as the Chief he was.

Off in the distance he saw the wing of the Bewilderbeast and approached it. When he was close enough, he found another god sitting on one of the great tusks of the massive beast. However, this one was Loki... the trickster god of mischief, and father of the dragons as well as an eight-legged horse.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Loki greeted. He stood up and approached Stoick, and looking back at the great Bewilderbeast, he said: "Isn't he magnificent? He's the size of a mountain, intimidating, and will eat anything swimming in the ocean; and at the same time he's gentle, caring, and was a great king of all dragons." Now looking back at Stoick he added: "I've healed his wounds, but he is weak. If you help him regain his strength, he will repay you. Help him, and he'll make sure that you return to Berk in a safe and a speedy manner."

Stoick looked into the eyes of the massive dragon. His gaze was wise, intelligent, gentle, and held this sense of authority; but at the same time they showed his hunger, pain, and defeat. Stoick put a hand on one of the great tusks of the massive dragon and told Loki: "I'll help him."

"You're a good man; not every Viking has the heart to care for my draconic children."

"And you wonder why you're not our favorite god." Stoick muttered to himself.

"You'll be able to find spears and rope laying around the ground. That should be enough for you to fish for him, and as I said, he'll eat anything from the ocean." Loki told him before vanishing.

Stoick found a spear and a good length of rope. Looking into the water, he spotted a large squid, threw the spear, and caught it! Hauling it over to the Bewilderbeast, saving a tentacle for himself, he threw the squid into the cavernous maw of the Bewilderbeast. He swallowed the squid whole and his gaze showed a sign of happiness as he gave Stoick his impression of a human smile. Stoick decided that the beast would need a name, but so many passed through his head, he couldn't settle on one right away. Like the beast's recovery, it would have to wait a little while.

* * *

**So, why did I bring back Stoick and the Bewilderbeast back from the dead? Well, I saw HTTYD2 and noticed that there was really no evidence that Drago's Bewilderbeast killed the other one, otherwise there would have been bloodstains on his tusks, and Stoick wasn't burned by the plasma blast or cut up with the chunks of ice, despite what my story said, to suggest that he really was dead and it would've been very hard to hear a heartbeat or feel a pulse through his armor. So for those of you who've cried, like me, during those scenes, look here, they're going to be alright!**


	2. Chapter 2: A Tail of Two Chiefs

**Chapter Two: A ****_Tail_**** of Two Chiefs**

Hiccup looked at his handiwork. He had resurrected his Night Fury's Snoggletog tail, and he crossed his fingers in hopes that Toothless wouldn't _kill_ it like he did with the last one.

Between his duties as a new chief and Toothless' duties as Berk's alpha dragon, they were spending more time apart than they would like. Hiccup would be off trying to pull Ruffut off of Eret son of Eret when she was needed somewhere else, marrying the next bride and groom, or settling domestic disputes. As for Toothless, he was off making sure that the resident dragons weren't actively trying to destroy the village and would often direct them into performing attack and defense drills in case hostile visitors would come to Berk. Most of the time, Toothless would direct these drills while perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, but there were a few occasions where he and Hiccup would participate, as well as other riders.

The newest fin for Toothless' tail was made of the same material that all of his previous tailfins have been made of but this time the leather was covered in the scales the Night Fury had shed. Hiccup hoped that it would not only make the material stronger but also fireproof. He also saw fit to remain from painting their trademark symbol on the fin. Hs goal was to make it look like it was a natural fin in hopes that other dragons wouldn't try to challenge his dominance by seeing that unless Hiccup was on his back he couldn't fly.

"It looks wonderful, Hiccup." Valka told him.

"Thank you. I made a similar one for the first Snoggletog Toothless and I had together, but he ended up destroying it, preferring his first one. However, now that he is the Chief of the dragons, I figured that it could help him out with his duties." He replied.

"I think he'll appreciate it this time around." Valka stated.

"Why don't we find out now?" Hiccup asked. Stepping outside, he sounded his dragon call and Toothless bounded over to him. Hiccup scratched him underneath his chin until he scratched his sweet spot, and knocked him out with a smile on his face. He didn't want to knock him out like that, but it was necessary if he wanted to keep his tail still while he was fitting the new prosthetic on the beast without trouble.

He managed to secure the base strap and the lever onto Toothless' tail, and then the dragon woke up again. and moved the tip into his field of vision. The dragon was startled! His pupils narrowed a bit, he held a confused expression, and he let out a short roar. Not wasting any time, Hiccup pinned the tail down and secured the tip strap.

It was then, Toothless saw the gears and felt the lever on his other fin. He turned and gave Hiccup a dirty glare. He remembered this tail, and he remembered killing it. He raised the tip, threatening to bust this one up if Hiccup didn't give him a reasonable explanation.

"Hey, we still have your old tail, and I promise that we'll still use it. I figured that you can wear this one while I'm busy being the Chief; and so none of the other dragons would think that they could challenge you when I've got my back turned." Hiccup explained. Toothless turned around, giving Hiccup a light smack on the head, and looked up to the sky where Cloudjumper was flying. Cloudjumper turned into Toothless' number two, due to the fact that he was large, intelligent, and dragons regarded him as a figure of authority. He would put Toothless' limits to the test, for speed, endurance, or whoever could do the best trick shot. With that in mind, Toothless took to the sky, and cut-off Cloudjumper, thus triggering another one of their wild competitions.

"He's magnificent! If only there were more of them around here!" Valka exclaimed. Indeed, to see a Night Fury fly on his own was breathtaking. Toothless was the Chief of the skies once again!

Amazed by the sight, Valka called over a Hobblegrunt and took flight after Cloudjumper and Toothless. She loved observing them in the air on the backs of other dragons, but to watch Toothless in his own element, without Hiccup's aid, he brought the term 'amazing' to a whole new level.

While his mother and dragon were up in the air. Hiccup looked around to see if anyone was in need of his help. Luckily for him, no one was causing trouble, and everyone seemed to be doing fine with whatever they were doing. So Hiccup decided it was time to track Astrid down. He was making his way over to the stables, where she and Stormfly would be. However as he just nearing them, his path was blocked off by Gobber.

"G'afternoon, Hiccup." He greeted.

"Hey, Gobber, is there something I can do for you?"

"Listen, I know that it's been a short time since your father... you know... However, I was wondering if I could have your blessing to ask your mother to marry me?"

The question hit Hiccup like a lightning bolt to the head. He should know, he's been there and done that. He knew that Gobber's affections for his mother were one of the reasons he never married; and even when she was thought to be in Valhalla, he still didn't find a woman to give his remaining hand to. At the same time, after seeing Gobber fix dragons' teeth, and fixing their injuries, Valka had been visiting Gobber whenever the two had time on their hands; and finally Hiccup already looked at Gobber as a second father figure.

"I-I, uh, wow, sorry I just wasn't expecting this so soon. I mean I-I was expecting it, just _later_. Well, Gobber, I think that you'll be a fine man for her, you have my blessing." Hiccup replied. Gobber brought Hiccup into a tight one-armed hug and set off singing, he only did that when he was truly happy.

Now inside the stables, Hiccup found Astrid helping Stormfly groom herself, but once she saw Hiccup she stopped at once.

"Hiccup, what's up?" She asked.

"Well, I finished a new tail for Toothless, and Gobber just asked for my blessing to propose to my mother." He replied bluntly.

"You're serious about that proposal?" Astrid asked.

"Yes, as serious as asking you this: Astrid Hofferson, we've been together for five years now, and I think it's time to ask you if you would marry me." Hiccup replied, getting down to one knee and pulling out a ring with a diamond set between one of Toothless' and Stormfly's scales. Her eyes widened at the unusual, but beautiful ring, and she hopped up and gown with glee.

"OF COURSE I'LL MARRY YOU!" She exclaimed. Hiccup slid the ring on her finger. The two kissed and embraced each other for a moment, and when Hiccup eventually left, he was singing to himself too.

* * *

"Hiccup, there's something I want to tell you." Valka stated. They were in their home, Valka sitting at the table while Hiccup was preparing dinner for both of them and their dragons. That night, the dragons were having a mixed meal of chicken and fish, ever since he found out from Astrid that chicken gives dragons an extra energy boost that increased their speed, Hiccup decided to give it a try with Toothless and Cloudjumper, and he figured that with the two being the alpha dragons, they would appreciate having the energy to take on whatever the day threw at them. As for Hiccup and Valka, they were having a delicious yak stew.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked, knowing full well what she wanted to tell him.

"It's Gobber... he uh..." She trailed off. Instead she showed her son her hand, or rather the ring on it.

"Wow, and you accepted!"

"And you approve?" Valka questioned.

"Gobber actually asked for my blessing before asking you. I wouldn't let my grief over losing Dad get in the way of his happiness, so I approved it to him, and I'm doing the same for you."

"Thank you, son." Valka stated.

"Now, mother, there's something that I need to tell you." Hiccup began, but then there was a knock on the door. Looking back to his mother, he added: "In one minute." He opened the door and he was immediately scooped up by two beefy Vikings by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Hofferson.

"A chief for a son-in-law! We're so happy for the two of you!" Mrs. Hofferson exclaimed while tightening up her already constrictor-like embrace.

"Can't breathe!" Hiccup exclaimed in a hoarse voice. Toothless looked over to Astrid's parents and gave them a warning snarl so they'd loosen his rider.

"Mom, Dad, would you mind putting my husband-to-be down?" Astrid asked. The Hofferson's put Hiccup down, and Astrid kissed him again.

"Wow, I'm not the only Haddock that got engaged today." Valka stated. She soon added: "Congratulations you two." Toothless realized what this whole ordeal was about and pinned the young couple to the ground and licking them both, while they were protesting against it.

"Come on, Toothless, it doesn't wash out!" Hiccup complained. The Night Fury finally let them up.

"You're engaged too, Valka? Who's the lucky Viking?" Mrs. Hofferson asked.

"Gobber."

"Wow, we should celebrate with him too." Mr. Hofferson stated lifting a barrel of mead onto his shoulder.

"By now he's probably having is bachelor party." Mrs. Hofferson replied. She wasn't kidding, Gobber was the life of bachelor parties, and when they were needed, they weren't exactly events that you waited for, they were up and running as soon as possible, and they weren't over until the groom had been thoroughly embarrassed and passed out after drinking too much mead.

"Without inviting his apprentice and chief?" Hiccup questioned while wiping Night Fury slobber off of his outfit.

"I suppose you're right, Chief, let's celebrate your engagement right now!" Mr. Hofferson declared. Hiccup was glad he made a big batch of the yak stew, it was enough for the Hofferson's to have a bowl for themselves. It was on that night when Hiccup got properly drunk. He began singing everything he said with the skill of a tone-deaf Terrible Terror. Their big topic for the night, after future plans for Hiccup and Astrid, had turned to how things were going in the Dragon Training Academy. Nowadays, all children ages seven to seventeen, attended the academy to learn everything to know about every dragon they knew of, with the exception of the Night Fury. Since there was only one of them that Berk knew of, they didn't bother teaching the public about them because they never thought that they would encounter another one anytime soon. Still, Hiccup had a lot to say about it, even though it was Valka who usually taught the classes.

He woke up the next morning by vomiting out of his window and a nasty hangover, but was still able to go around Berk to accept the congratulations from his village about his engagement and take Toothless out for a flight.

If he could ask for anything more right now, it would be to hear his father congratulate him about his engagement with a slap to the back that sent him to the ground... and for that _forsaken_ hangover to go away!


	3. Chapter 3: Stranger of the Tides

**Chapter Three: Stranger of the Tides**

A few days had passed since Stoick had woken up on the Bewilderbeast's island. He worked hard to bring the massive dragon back to health. Now it was recuperating inside his picturesque sanctuary. It was still home to a few hatchlings and some dragons, but they weren't the build Stoick needed to return to Berk. There was a Monstrous Nightmare, who would've been able to carry him, but it was a temperamental beast prone to flaming up unpredictably, and after what Toothless had done to him, he'd grown a slight fear of dragon fire. There was also a Thunderdrum, however this one was a mother to a rather annoying hatchling. Gronkles and Hotburples were too slow for his liking, besides a Gronkle wasn't capable of hauling a man of Stoick's stature, and Hotburples were real couch potatoes. Aside from a Timberjack, there wasn't a beast for him to fly, and the Timberjack would fly away from him if he got too close. However, knowing that the Bewilderbeast commanded them, he wondered why the Bewilderbeast, deemed Aric, command the other dragons to let him approach. He would, however, send out one dragon to help Stoick

Right now, Stoick was hauling in another catch for Aric; a handmade net full of fish, another squid, and a shark was on the menu for him tonight. He pitched a couple fish to dragons he passed and then fed the Bewilderbeast saving a fish for himself.

Looking up Stoick saw a massive hole in the sanctuary that would allow Aric to escape, but now its purpose was a skylight to the spectacular sunset outside. He was laying in the grass, wrapped up in his cape, his helmet sitting at his side. He closed his eyes and dreamed of Berk. The image in his head was of a race his son was winning, he eventually came in first place, but he stepped down from the winner's pedestal, got down on one knee before Astrid and proposed to her. The crowd cheered for him as she accepted.

The dream soon shifted attention over to Valka. She was teaching everyone in the village the secrets of every dragon, putting the people in awe with her and their dragons. The dream was so happy it almost had him in tears, and he longed to be back on Berk even more.

Stoick woke up to the sound of a familiar high-pitched whistling sound, and then the sound of Aric calling echoed throughout the sanctuary. Sitting upright, now he heard the familiar whistling again. There was a Night Fury nearby, and that could mean only one thing.

"Hiccup?" He said to himself in a hushed voice. Aric rang out another call, and now the whistle grew louder, and then a slightly lower-pitched whistle joined it, but that could mean that there were _two_ of them, right? With one final call, the whistling dragons landed. Indeed there were two of them, and they were definitely Night Furies. However, neither one of them was Toothless.

The fist one to land was larger, and judging from appearances, older than Toothless. The larger dragon had startling red-violet eyes, and bore scars all over its body within his solid black scales. By the tip of his left wing, he had a small tear, and there was a little nick taken off of his right ear. Yes this dragon was male. He had a sense of authority in his gaze, wherever he came from, he held a high status in dragon society, and he held himself like any proud warrior Stoick met.

As for the smaller Night Fury, the eyes were blue with silver flecks. The scales were actually navy blue of various hues from nearly black to almost cobalt blue. The wings and scales of this creature were undamaged and flawless. It was smaller than Toothless, but also appeared to be younger than him. The dragon had longer and more narrow ears than Toothless, the neck was longer in proportion than the larger Night Fury, and the legs were thinner and longer, but still strong. This Night Fury was female. Wow, Toothless would've been amazed.

Looking over to Aric, Stoick asked: "Will they be my way home?"

The Bewilderbeast blew a frosty breath to Stoick as a form of saying: 'Yes'. Aric then went outside to bring fish into the sanctuary, he gave some to Stoick, and with fish in hand, he approached the larger Night Fury until he started snarling telling him: 'You're close enough, pal'.

Stoick held up the larger fish to the male dragon, and his expression softened. He slowly opened his jaws, exposing toothless gums, but of course Stoick wasn't going to name the dragon based on their retractable teeth. Before the dragon exposed his teeth, Stoick set the fish between his jaws. The Night Fury swallowed it and then urged the female Night Fury to approach Stoick. When he took a step towards her, the male snarled, which seemed to tell him: 'No, let _her_ approach _you'_!

The beautiful female Night Fury slowly approached him and then snapped the dangling fish out of his hand!

_She's feisty._ Stoick thought. Then the names came to him! With his blazing red-violet eyes, he always looked like he was angry or at least cranky, and he was also blacker than Toothless. He deemed the larger Night Fury Shadowrath. As for the feistier blue Night Fury, with the beauty of a gemstone, he pronounced her name to be Sapphire.

"Do you like them?" Stoick asked them. Shadowrath crooned with approval and so did Sapphire. Now it was time for the moment of truth… The bond. Slowly and steadily Stoick raised his hand in front of Shadowrath, since Sapphire would've been too small for him to ride. Stoick looked away from Shadowrath and waited from him to make the bond. With some hesitation, Shadowrath put his snout into Stoick's palm and then crooned. Stoick looked at the Night Fury, and then scratched his lower jaw, remembering how much Toothless liked it. Stoick found Shadowrath melting into his hand and purring. Now that they've bonded, there was a slight problem. Stoick would need a saddle for this beast or some way to hang on. He also slipped a spear into another loop; he'd have a use for it later.

Out on the beach he managed to scavenge enough materials to create a saddle. He made it out of sheets of canvas from fallen ships, rope, and pieces of wood. The seat and straps were made from the canvas, while he made the stirrups out of the wood and rope, and he also treaded the rope through a wide loop of twisted canvas for him to hold on to. It wasn't a very good saddle, but Shadowrath allowed it on his back and after a quick test run through the sanctuary, it proved that it would hold up for the journey back to Berk… Which began now.

Aric also decided that he wanted to go to Berk too, the remaining few dragons on the island took flight or perched on his back, but before leaving, Aric stuck his head down in his pool. Stoick saw his jaws move and assumed that he was grabbing one last bite to eat before leaving. He urged Shadowrath to the sky, and they began their trip. In the air, something dawned on Stoick:

_I am about to return to my homeland with a Bewilderbeast that they thought was gone, _two_ Night Furies, and they believe that I am gone too. They won't recognize me right away, and this will be a lot for my family to wrap their heads around already. I'll keep myself silent until they're ready to find out who I am. Unless I decide that I want them to pass out._ He thought to himself. Onward they went, crossing the ocean to Berk, nothing was going to stop them until they reached the island!

Hiccup and Toothless just landed from their evening flight. The village was ready to retire for the night, but little did they know was that this was about to be the longest night on Berk. Just as Hiccup and Toothless were ready to enter their home, when Toothless suddenly raised his head with his ears erect and turning from side to side, his eyes had also widened. Both Hiccup and Valka caught this. Valka and Cloudjumper had just returned from the Academy.

"Toothless, what is it?" Hiccup asked. The Night Fury's ears were still erect and still listening, but now he bounded over to the cliffs with the others trailing behind him. Valka and Hiccup still couldn't hear what Toothless was listening to, but now Cloudjumper was listening to it. The other villagers were noticing their behavior and gathered around the cliffs as well. It also appeared that another sound had caught the dragons' attention as Toothless and Cloudjumper exchanged looks with eyes even wider than before and their jaws slackened with a sense of disbelief.

The villagers stood in silence, the suspense building up, now all of Berk's dragons were gathered by the cliff or made their perch on somebody's house, everything was so quiet they could hear a crow cawing in the distance. Then Hiccup and Valka saw something just on the horizon. Something big was approaching, and then they heard a faint whistle, but the only thing that could've made a whistle was standing right next to Cloudjumper. Hiccup and Valka saddled up on their dragons and took to the skies.

They couldn't believe their eyes, the first thing they saw was the Bewilderbeast of the sanctuary, happy, healthy, and very much alive. Cloudjumper and Valka were beyond overjoyed to see that he was indeed the very Bewilderbeast that had taken care of them.

While Hiccup was more than happy to see the kind Bewilderbeast again, he and Toothless were busy pursuing a speeding, whistling shadow.

"Another Night Fury, Bud! I can't believe it!" Hiccup exclaimed. They were flying parallel to the new dragon with blue eyes that seemed to glow in the night, until the dragon suddenly ascended. Toothless pursued the dragon still, and then they came face to face with a pair of large, blazing, red-violet eyes!

"_TWO_ NIGHT FURIES _AND_ THE BEWILDERBEAST IS BACK!" Hiccup exclaimed. If something else this good came along he'd pass out! Then he urged Toothless to go higher and then found that the larger Night Fury had a rider on his back! Valka had flown over to them now and was just as amazed as Hiccup was. _Two_ new Night Furies, she could finally start teaching Berk about them!

Hiccup turned Toothless away from the new Night Furies, beckoned them to follow him, and they escorted to new dragons with the strange rider who'd managed to train one. Everyone was amazed when the new Night Furies landed and the Bewilderbeast showed up with a cargo of more dragons. They were also quite taken aback by the sudden arrival of a new dragon rider; especially one with such an unusual helmet and covered in several scars and burns. Hiccup dismounted Toothless and approached the rider telling him: "I am Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, also known as the Dragon Chief. Welcome to Berk."

The rider removed a spear from his saddle and began writing in the dirt. In front of the smaller Night Fury he wrote the word _'Sapphire'_, before the larger one he wrote _'Shadowrath', 'Aric'_ in front of the Bewilderbeast, and in front of himself he wrote _'Stav the Silent'._

"What's business brings you here?" Hiccup asked.

_'__To meet the Dragon Chief and find a home.'_ Stav replied. Hiccup was taken aback he knew that other tribes had heard rumors about his feats, but he never conceived someone like this stranger of the tides would show up with dragon with the intent of coming to Berk just to meet him and perhaps simply move in on Berk.

"Of course, well met! Everyone, let us welcome our guest: Stav the Silent!" Hiccup announced. The crowd applauded for him, anyone with Night Furies and wasn't hostile was always welcomed to Berk.

"Now, uh, who's got a room for him?" Hiccup asked the crowd. Mr. Hofferson stepped forward and whispered in his ear: "If you have Astrid move in with right away, I'll have a spare room for him."

"Very well. Stav, the Hofferson's will have a room ready within the hour, and your dragons can stay in our stables… However, Aric, will have to find a place for himself." Hiccup replied. Turning to Astrid he asked her: "I think it's time you moved in with me."

"What about your mother?" She asked.

"She's spending the night over at Gobber's tonight, and I'm not planning on doing any of _that_ until _after_ the ceremony." Hiccup replied.

Well Astrid ran home, gathered up her things, and ran over to the Haddock house. Hiccup had built a larger bed since their engagement, and this one was topped with a large sack stuffed with sheep's wool and straw. It was lumpy and smelled faintly like a sheep's pen, but at least it was more comfortable than laying flat on boards, and it was on that bed where the young couple spooned for the night.

"So, tonight was pretty exciting." Astrid spoke.

"And to think, I was starting to believe that Toothless was the last of his kind!" Hiccup replied.

**Special Thanks to Shadowdragon1317 for coming up with Aric's name and for the reviews. So were you guys surprised with the new Night Furies at all, or did you see it coming? Now I have a few things I'd like to get off my chest: If you think that 'Shadowrath' should've been spelt with two W's, I've tried it, and I didn't like the way it looked so I spelt it with only one. Also remember that Stoick wasn't recognized because:**

**1.****His new helmet covering part of his face.**

**2.****He's wearing an outfit no one has seen him in before.**

**3.****His skin is covered in burns and scars, which the villagers didn't see on his body.**

**4.****He arrived with strange dragons.**

**5.****He isn't talking.**

**6.****The villagers aren't expecting this 'stranger' to be him.**

**Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4: Dragonstone

**Chapter Four: Dragonstone**

It was two weeks before Snoggletog, Berk was covered in a shallow layer of fresh snow. Toothless woke up Hiccup and Astrid by jumping on the roof and roaring. Hiccup groaned but rolled out of the bed, and prepared Toothless for a flight. He slipped on the newer tail, much to the dragon's displeasure, and threw on the new saddle that went with it. Hiccup saddled up, and Astrid was already waiting for him on Stormfly. They took off and flew over to the stables, where the Night Furies had a guest already. They found Valka feeding them fish and giving them neck rubs. Toothless bounded over to them, and held himself proudly before Shadowrath, showing that he was the alpha dragon of Berk. As if to emphasize his point, Cloudjumper and several other dragons bowed to Toothless. Sapphire tipped her head down to Toothless for a bit; she was accepting that this was his island, but she would not be so submissive to him. Shadowrath, on the other hand, didn't even tip his head. What he saw was a young Night Fury, without that many scars to prove himself in battle, a pet to a lame human, and was the only Strike class dragon of his Island. There was nothing to challenge him until today. So rather than submitting to Toothless, he was asking for a challenge by stepping towards him, his plates splitting, wings raised, and teeth bared.

Hiccup stepped in front of Shadowrath telling him: "You don't want to challenge Toothless, he's beaten a Red Death and a Bewilderbeast."

Shadowrath understood every word in that sentence, and found Toothless flying to the ceiling of the stables where the tusk of a defeated Bewilderbeast was hanging form chains. Once used as a weapon, the tusk was now a dragon perch that happened to be a symbol of the strength of the dragons of Berk. Even Aric, looking inside the stables, was impressed to see the tusk of the Bewilderbeast that tried to kill him hanging up there.

Shadowrath flew up and sniffed the base of the tusk where it had broken off the massive beast; sure enough it had the scent of a plasma blast on it. Looking over to Toothless, he finally tipped his head, not as much Sapphire did, but enough to tell Toothless that he acknowledged that he knew that he was the alpha, and will not be challenging him in the near future.

Now Toothless jumped from the tusk, and landed before Sapphire. Now that it was light out it was easier to see her blue scales, and to see that she was definitely a female. She stepped forward and looked Toothless over and he was looking her over too.

"She's magnificent, isn't she?" Hiccup asked.

"She's beautiful. Look at her! A magnificent coloration, very few scars if none at all, and she's perfectly healthy!" Valka exclaimed.

Toothless made a move towards Sapphire, but it was a move that Shadowrath clearly did not approve of. He separated Toothless and Sapphire with his wing and snarled at Toothless. Then something dawned on the three humans.

"Shadowrath, you're Sapphire's father, aren't you?" Hiccup asked. The larger Night Fury looked at him in the eyes and gave him a sharp nod with a chuff that said: 'You're damn right I'm her father!'

"So, does Toothless have to prove himself worthy of her?" Astrid asked. Again, Shadowrath nodded again.

"That must mean that there are enough Night Furies out there for them to be picky about who they mate with!" Hiccup exclaimed with dawning realization. To his further delight, both Shadowrath and Sapphire nodded. So Hiccup said to Shadowrath: "Well I don't know about other Night Furies, but Toothless has proven himself to be a mighty warrior."

Shadowrath nodded again.

"So, does he have to prove that he is a competent alpha or worthy as a Night Fury?" Astrid asked. Shadowrath nodded twice. It was clear now that if Toothless wanted to claim the right to mate with Sapphire he would have to prove himself as an alpha and a Night Fury. Toothless already had an idea that would do the trick as a gift for Hiccup a few days before Snoggletog, but it would have to be given earlier. He would be quite interested in participating in this year's migration if he could. With a roar he called all the other dragons out of the stables.

In the center of the village, Toothless brought a large rock and called for the rest of Berk's dragons. On Berk they had dragons of every size now from Bewilderbeast to Terrible Terrors. They clustered themselves according to breed and kept their eyes on Toothless who seemed to be addressing a plan he had with them. After 'talking' to the other dragons, he circled around his rock and blasted it to bits with a shot. The dragons looked amongst each other knowing what Toothless was asking them to do.

From the roof of one of the homes, Stoick, now known as Stav the Silent, had caught sight of Toothless' actions and put down his hammer. Odin told him that what Toothless had in mind was a spectacular sight. He sat on the rooftop as Toothless went around selecting at least one of each breed of dragon on Berk.

Among the ranks were: Hookfang, Meatlug, Grump, Stormfly, Skullcrusher, Cloudjumper, Barf & Belch, Ruffnut's new Scauldron named Scauldy (Tuffnut found a wife on Outcast Island and won custody over the Zippleback), a pair of Skrills who were once residents of Aric's sanctuary, a few Timberjacks, a couple Changewings, a couple other Scauldrons, two Hobblegrunts, two Whispering Deaths, and a few multiples of other dragons.

With a series of roars from Toothless, the Night Fury took to the skies with the selected dragons following him. This behavior caught the attention of all the villagers by now as the dragons hovered in the air. With another roar from Toothless, the dragons formed a circle large enough to surround Aric. The dragons hovered in place as the Night Fury checked their position. He made sure that the dragons were lined up with dragons of their breed if they were looking through the center of the circle, and that there was plenty of space between dragons. With another roar he led them into a rotation at a slow and steady pace. With another roar from Toothless the dragons gradually sped up. When the dragons reached the maximum speed their slowest dragon could go, Toothless fired a plasma blast and the pair of Whispering Deaths blew their flame through the diameter of the circle. Down on the land, the village saw a perfectly formed spinning line of fire and rings. Then, pair by pair, the other dragons who could hold a stream of fire breathed across the diameter of the circle as they continued to rotate, making these criss-crossing lines look like the dragons were creating a disk of flame. Now the Scauldrons shot their water and Aric helped by keeping a narrow and steady breath of ice aimed at the center of the ring of dragons. For the second to final touch, the dragons that couldn't keep steady shots, fired into the center until they ran out of shots. For the final touch, Toothless powered up a plasma blast so big that his scales were turning blue, and then he fired! The center of the disk of fire went up in a fantastic explosion with Toothless diving into the blast!

The dragons from the ring dispersed and landed. Toothless, landed before Hiccup holding a large black rock with his four feet.

"All that work for a rock?" Snotlout asked in the distance. Hookfang knocked him off his feet with his tail.

Grump took the rock in his jaws and cracked it open into two halves, revealing a large and beautiful gemstone inside. It was the color of Toothless' plasma blast before it made contact with anything or exploded, with flecks of reds, yellows, and the blue that Toothless' scales turned when they glowed. At the center of it, was the silhouette of a dragon. Meatlug pried the stone out of the rock with her teeth and set it at Hiccup's feet. He picked it up and admired the amazing colors, the smooth texture, the silhouette inside, and the size of it. He looked down at Toothless and asked him: "You want me to have it?" The dragon nodded.

Shadowrath and Sapphire approached Toothless. The larger dragon having a stern expression in his red-violet eyes, but then he bowed his head to Toothless and nudged his daughter over to him. Sapphire gave a wide draconic smile for both males and bounded over to Toothless, nuzzling him. In turn, Toothless tipped his head upward and crooned towards Shadowrath. The larger dragon turned away and flew off to circle around Berk to stretch his wings. Other dragons went straight for the feeding stations or to the ocean to get something to regain their strength from their efforts.

Hiccup headed over to the forge, deciding that if he was to keep the Dragonstone, he would have to keep it on his person at all times, as people like Snotlout would want to take it for themselves even if it meant destroying the village. He made a new piece of armor to be mounted on his left shoulder that would encase the gem, but could be opened by figuring out the secret way of removing the panel concealing it. Despite the size of the stone, it didn't seem to have a lot of weight when he put the piece of armor on his shoulder.

Toothless was also busy, but he was busy running around the island, playing with Sapphire, until she started playing a bit rough. After firing a small plasma blast, her projectile struck his false tailfin just right and dislodged it! Sapphire's eyes widened, thinking that she knocked off a real fin. She leapt over to the false fin and examined it, and took a look at Toothless' real tail noticing the old wound made when he lost his original fin, and discovered that the fin he just lost had been its replacement.

From the forge, Hiccup saw what happened, and Shadowrath saw it from above. By the time Hiccup reached the two dragons, Shadowrath had already landed and examined the false fin and the side of the tail it was knocked off from. When he looked up to Toothless in the eye, his expression was a mix of shocked and apologetic. By looking at Shadowrath's scars, it was easy to tell he'd been through his share of hard times, but he'd never suffered anything as bad as loosing an important appendage.

Hiccup picked to the fin and looked it over. It would need repairs, but at least he wouldn't have to remake the whole thing. He looked over to Sapphire, who looked like a guilty dog about to get in trouble.

"Hey, girl, it's alright, you didn't know any better. I'll have this thing fixed soon enough." Hiccup stated in a soothing voice. While his back was turned to them, he heard the all-too familiar sound of a dragon regurgitating a hunk of fish. It was Shadowrath making the sound; he was sharing a fish with Toothless.

"Well, Shadowrath, I must say it's nice to see that you have a more positive attitude towards Toothless." Hiccup stated as he started heading back to the forge.

"He's proven himself to be a fine Night Fury, and he's shown that he's been through harder times than me." Shadowrath replied. Hiccup stopped in his tracks. He did expect to hear a response from the larger dragon, but he did expect to understand what he was saying, especially since his voice reminded him of his father's a little bit.

"H-how can… How d-d-did you…" Hiccup stuttered.

"It's the Dragonstone, more than just water, fire, acid, and plasma went into that. It is a mystical and mysterious treasure, and it can only be made when many different breeds of dragons ruled by one great alpha cooperate perfectly. For dragons it is a symbol of the strength of their nest or island. It is also capable of many mystical properties, but how many we do not know; we do know that when in the possession of a human, one of its powers is to allow the human to understand out draconic language." Shadowrath replied.

"Uh, wow, this is going to be a door to something new. Uh, Toothless, I'll fix this up right away." Hiccup said.

"I'll meet you back home." Toothless replied. His voice sounding just as Hiccup imagined it would be.

* * *

In a cave at the easternmost regions of the globe, a cloaked man with a dark mane of dreadlocks also discovers a treasure kept away from the world. It was another Dragonstone, but this one held more of a red than the color of the plasma blast required to make these stones.

"At last, I will my revenge with the dragon riders of the North. I will build an army greater than before, with dragons from all over the world!" This cloaked madman exclaimed. He swept out of the cave to his dark Bewilderbeast and set off. He was ready to take on the world's dragons.

**So that concludes Chapter Four. Now, please review. What did you guys think of the Dragonstone's creation, what other powers do you think the Dragonstone should have, and what are your thoughts on the new Night Furies? I'm particularly interested on what you guys think of Shadowrath as I'm still developing Sapphire's personality. Now, because the lengths of these chapters are getting longer, there ay be a longer break before I update again, but then I might reward you with TWO new chapters. Again, reviews are awesome.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Snoggletog Migration

**Chapter Five: The Snoggletog Migration**

**I've got eleven favorites, twenty-five followers, over 1000 total views, and six reviews right now. I love those of you who took the time to leave the reviews, as I love hearing feedback on these chapters. Also, do not forget that Stav the Silent is Stoick the Vast. Well, enough of that, let's see what happens next!**

It was Snoggletog week now, and the village was looking quite festive with decorations. Thanks to Toothless, and to Aric the village would have plenty of food for the winter. Hiccup spent a lot of time delegating tasks to be done with the villagers so he was able to help Gobber in the forge; it was this time of year when his orders piled through the roof. Anything ranging from weapons, to saddles, to jewelry, and to teeth fixings were being ordered. Right now the orders involving the dragons were being rushed. For saddles and even false limbs (since some dragons are accident prone or they gotten into a nasty fight that Toothless hadn't been able to get to in time) they had to be measured, and it was only a few days before the dragons were about to migrate to lay their eggs.

Tuffnut came over that morning and flagged Hiccup, asking him: "Is Helga's gift ready?" Helga was not only Tuffnut's wife, but also Barf's new rider. She came to Berk from Outcast Island where Hiccup and Alvin the Treacherous were signing a peace treaty. Once great enemies, they were now among the greatest allies in the Archipelago. Alvin was sympathetic to Berk's grief over Stoick's passing. As the villagers greeted their Outcast guests, Helga and Tuffnut locked eyes right after she stepped off the ship. She was fiery, seemed to be halfway insane, a fan of Zipplebacks, and always kept a mace on her person… earning her the title Helga the Mace Menace. When she was in a good mood, she was perfectly nice, and would happily tell stories of growing up with six siblings and their antics, and could bake bread fit to be eaten by the gods.

"Yes it is." Hiccup told Tuffnut. He brought his customer a small wooden box and showed Tuffnut a handsome necklace with a pendant if Zippleback heads, each holding a mace in their jaws with rubies set in their eyes.

"It's beautiful!" Tuffnut gasped. He paid Hiccup on the spot and returned to his house.

Next up was Eret son of Eret. A few days ago he ordered something for Ruffnut, the two of them had finally become a couple. He ordered a dagger that could hold Scauldron venom and deliver the poison whenever Ruffnut used the blade. Hiccup gave it a more personal touch for Eret and engraved a Scauldron on one side of the blade and engraved a prayer for protection on the other. He also fitted some of Scauldy's scales into the hilt.

"Wow, you've really put your heart into this blade, Dragon Chief." Eret stated when he picked up the dagger.

"I thought I put a little bit of yours into it too with that prayer." Hiccup replied.

"She'll love it, thank you." Eret told him. When Eret left, the line was now short enough for Gobber to handle on his own and he scheduled a dragon race for later. So now he was heading out to find Toothless. He was bringing the dragon's Snoggletog tailfin and his red racing paint. This time around, Valka, Cloudjumper, Eret, Skullcrusher, Gobber, Grump, Stav the Silent, and Shadowrath would be racing with him. Normally riders race riders closer to their own age, or with the same breed of dragon, but the village just had to see a race with two Night Furies participating and racing with his peers was barely a challenge for Hiccup anymore. Now it turns out that Valka and Cloudjumper are rather nasty opponents. There weren't many rules in dragon racing, as riders were known to bring weapons and the dragons are allowed to use their fire, but the way Cloudjumper would cut other dragons with a breath of fire or deliver a mighty blast of air that sounded like fire, it could almost be called cheating. Also Valka was very proficient in hopping from dragon to dragon to swipe sheep out of racers' hands. Gobber and Grump were also a tricky duo. They were prone 'cuddling' riders that would squeeze the sheep out of their clutches. Gobber would also bribe Grump with his favorite metal ores, rocks, and dragon nip to get him to fly faster.

In Stav's case this will be the first time Berk will see him actually racing. However, Hiccup had observed how well Stav and Shadowrath work together. They will prove to be challenging opponents, but Hiccup also noticed that Shadowrath couldn't fly as fast with the weight of Stav on his back, Hiccup had to admit that the Stranger of the Tides looked a bit taller than his father.

Speaking of the racers, they were all gathered in the stables putting paint and saddles on the dragons. Shadowrath had since gotten a proper leather saddle to replace the makeshift canvas and rope saddle he arrived in. Stav was putting green and violet paint on the Night Fury. Valka chose turquoise and yellow for Cloudjumper, Gobber went with green and orange, Eret was using violet and turquoise, and Hiccup stuck with red.

"Break a leg, Dragon Chief." Cloudjumper taunted Hiccup.

"You watch your back, Cloudjumper." Toothless replied.

"Hey, don't be pushing them, Toothless, you know what they're capable of." Hiccup told him. He kept it to himself that with the Dragonstone he could understand the dragons. Save for Valka, she once mistook the piece of armor with the stone inside it for hers and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it allowed the holder to understand dragons.

"I thought you liked racing with the red tail, why are you putting that one on?" Toothless asked.

"It's a safety measure for us Aric built some tricky obstacles for high-speed flying and dragon-leaping." Hiccup replied in a hushed voice.

Since the Bewilderbeast was no longer the chief of dragons, he made a place for himself by driving schools of fish to Berk, and he also used his icy breath to construct above-water tunnels and stacks for racers to weave through and around. The tunnels were easy enough for Hiccup to navigate Toothless through, but weaving through the stacks at high speeds was really putting the pair's reaction time to the test.

"Hey, Toothless, you're about to see why they call us Night Furies." Shadowrath stated with a smug on his face.

"Dad, he knows you put the fury in Night Fury. Don't worry, Toothless, he may play rough, but he's got a soft spot for you." Sapphire replied. During the time she's been on Berk, she's proven herself to be a sweet and curious dragon with a lot of sass and an unexplainable disliking for Gronkles.

The dragons were lined up and ready for the race. Looking into the stands, Hiccup saw his human and dragon friends cheering for their racers. He was a bit surprised to see that Fishlegs was the only one of his five closest friends routing for him. Astrid was going for girl power and was routing for Valka, Snotlout for Shadowrath and Stav, Ruffnut was routing for Eret, and Tuffnut supported Gobber.

"Nice show of loyalty to your fiancé, Astrid." Toothless muttered sarcastically. A trait he picked up from being around Hiccup for nearing six years.

The horn sounded and the dragons took flight. Valka managed to pick up the first sheep and sped off. Cloudjumper's advantages: four wings makes for amazing speed, stability, and maneuverability. His weaknesses were very few, which is another reason why he and Valka were such tough opponents.

Eret and Skullcrusher were picking up enough speed to catch up with them. It tires the Rumblehorn to push his speeds, but he makes for a good racing dragon when he's been fed right and Eret likes to push his limits. He was almost parallel to Valka when Toothless and Hiccup swooped in and stole the first sheep.

They flew into the twisting tunnels where the dragons had to swiftly ascend, dive, and turn. Aric did an amazing job building these tunnels; and thanks to his four wings and tailfins, Cloudjumper was the master of these tunnels, he was able to get through them the fastest. However, the fact that Shadowrath was in this race might change things up for him.

The tunnel suddenly took them skyward, and just as quickly sent them into a spiraling dive before the dragons exited altogether. After flying straight and level for a few seconds, the racers entered the ice stacks. This was the reason why Hiccup didn't want to deal with controlling the tail for this race. This will be the area that is the most difficult to navigate through and also where dragons like Grump and Skullcrusher to catch up to the faster ones. Both Night Furies and Stornmcutters had to slow down for this obstacle.

"Grump, I think Hiccup could use a 'cuddle'." Gobber stated. The Hotburple started to descend upon Hiccup, but the Dragon Chief handed the sheep over to the dragon, looked over to Gobber, pointed a finger at him, and snapped: "Don't you dare!" When suddenly a flash of light shot from the tip of his finger, and shot Grump right in the jaw! The dragon was stunned, but otherwise unharmed. Now Gobber was almost in need of a new set of underpants, due to his shock over the unprecedented use of sorcery.

"SORRY!" Hiccup exclaimed, realizing what just happened.

"Apparently the Dragonstone gives you the ability to produce fire." Toothless stated.

"So it appears." Hiccup replied.

Toothless and Hiccup were about to drop the first sheep into their basket, when Shadowrath and Stav cut them off, stole the sheep, and threw it in their own basket! Hiccup could hear the larger Night Fury laugh at them mockingly as they started the next lap.

For this race, Grump had delivered four successful 'cuddles' but Eret had stolen a sheep from him and dropped into his basket for the third one. Twice, Hiccup resorted to jumping dragons through use of his flying-squirrel suit, once to steal a sheep from Valka (giving her a kiss on the cheek as he did), and the second time to steal the sheep from Stav. Both times, he managed to throw the sheep into his basket afterward. At one point, after Eret picked up another Sheep, Cloudjumper delivered a rather nasty and thunderous wing blast, and it sent Skullcrusher spinning out of control and dazed, which made it easy for Valka to go in and steal the sheep.

Shadowrath's trick was to use his stealth and speed to cut off other dragons, messing up their flight pattern, and providing Stav with enough time to swipe a sheep from any racer. Toothless actually snapped at one point and delivered a plasma blast at the Night Fury and it hit him on the hindquarters. Yeah, this stunt made Shadowrath look like a jerk, but it wasn't as bad as suffering from one of Grump's 'cuddles'.

By now the race was pretty close for all racers, and the horn sounded for the final lap with the ten point black sheep. Shadowrath was the one to catch it, but after receiving a wing blast from Cloudjumper, Valka stole it and took the game! Astrid leapt up from her seat and cheered for Valka's girl power. Stav and Shadowrath came in second, while Hiccup and Toothless took third. The younger Night Fury stood on his pedestal with a pout. Normally he would've taken first or second place.

"It's okay, Bud, you'll get them next time." Hiccup told him.

"They can bet their tails I will." He grumbled.

"So your ego takes a hit and now you're being a sore loser?" Hiccup questioned. Toothless didn't reply. Hiccup congratulated both his mother and Stav with sincerity before everyone dispersed.

"Well, Shadowrath, you did pretty well for your first game." Hiccup stated. The Night Fury nodded.

* * *

A few says had passed and the dragons took off for their migration to lay their eggs, and among them were Toothless and Sapphire. When they migrated they brought an old ship with them so they could return early again. The dragons who have stayed behind have passed their prime to mate and raise young. One of the dragons who stayed behind was Shadowrath, but then again, he didn't really have anyone to mate with.

Aric also stayed behind, although Valka and Hiccup would've been much happier to see him swim off to find another Bewilderbeast to mate with, but nevertheless the instinct to migrate didn't call to him. Now that Toothless and Cloudjumper were gone, both Aric and Shadowrath took it upon themselves to fill the positions as alpha dragon and second-in-command.

Now it was the day after the migration and the village woke up to find a large snowball in the center of the village; but when Hiccup stepped closer to it, he found that its diameter was the same as his height, with a perfectly smooth opalescent surface, and it was quivering now. Realizing that this was an egg, his eyes widened when it moved, and he ran for cover when he saw the first crack appear.

"GET DOWN!" He shouted to his people at the top of his lungs. Everybody had just taken cover when the egg exploded, unleashing a torrent of frost and eggshell pieces as it did so! The villagers were covered in frost, but were otherwise unharmed. They looked over to the source of the explosion, and all they could say was: "Aww."

Sitting in the middle of the village was the most adorable dragon they've ever seen! It was a Bewilderbeast hatchling, with the same coloration of Aric, short and rounded baby tusks, short protrusions sticking from the back of its head, and beautiful large blue eyes.

Now looking over to Aric, the village saw him looking down at his new hatchling with pride. Hiccup looked between the two Bewilderbeasts in disbelief.

"Over a year ago I had a mate, and this was the egg she laid. It takes this long for a Bewilderbeast embryo to develop due to our size. The females lay the eggs and the males protect them." Aric explained to him. He adverted his gaze to his hatchling and said: "She will be a queen of kings."

Hiccup and Valka approached the new hatchling who breathed her first breath of frost at them with happiness in her eyes.

"Her name will be Brünhild." Aric declared. Hiccup looked over to him and nodded.

"As the Chief of Berk, on behalf of Aric, I pronounce the name of this dragon to be: Brünhild." Hiccup announced.

"He told you to name her that, didn't he?" Valka whispered, knowing full well that Hiccup had the Dragonstone on him and was able to understand the dragons as long as he had it.

Brünhild managed to get to her legs and approach her father with a stagger. She was so tiny compared to him. Still, he brought her gently into the ocean.

* * *

Hiccup was going around the village to be sure that nobody had tied their dragon up, trying to prevent them from leaving. The first time this happened was on the year Berk made peace with the dragons, and Fishlegs chained Meatlug up in a storage shed. Well Meatlug laid her explosive eggs in the shed, and Astrid, trying to find a new Snoggletog tradition, had the friends place the eggs in houses, and they destroyed the village. The second time it happened was three years later; several Terrible Terrors were snuck into Gobber's dungeon {mentioned in the Viking For Hire episode} and their eggs blew his house to bits. So, Hiccup's new tradition was to go around the village to make sure that no dragons, or their eggs were anywhere in the village, save for those who no longer migrated. If something like the incident with Meatlug should happen, Hiccup left his mother and Astrid in charge of the village.

Hiccup opened the door to the stables, and just to his luck a Timberjack had been chained up inside. When the door opened, the chain broke and the dragon swept him away.

"ASTRID!" Hiccup shouted. His fiancé looked over to the sound of his voice and shook her head. She knew who owned that dragon, and the fact that the dragon's name was Knifewing. Now her duty was to assign the owner to clean the stables until the dragons returned. At least she was relieved to know that Knifewing was a male.

Knifewing brought Hiccup to the island where dragons laid their eggs, by now most of them had already hatched. Dragon embryos usually don't take that long to develop into hatchlings. He loved this part of the year, seeing the hatchlings and the dragons so happy together.

He wandered about the island for a while until he came across a solid black dragon with a similar blue and black dragon.

"Toothless, Sapphire!" Hiccup called out. The two Night Furies looked up and happily welcomed Hiccup over to their spot.

"So who brought you over here this time?" Toothless asked.

"Knifewing." Hiccup replied bluntly.

"Well, at least you came over at the best possible time. Your winter tradition is ready to go by now, and it shouldn't be long before our egg hatches." Toothless stated.

"Can I see it?" Hiccup asked. Toothless nodded to Sapphire, who was curled around the egg. She moved her tail and revealed a single black egg.

"It's beautiful, but only one?" Hiccup said. He'd seen dragons with clutches ranging from six to ten.

"That's all Night Furies lay per mating season." Sapphire explained.

"You'll like this egg, Hiccup, they don't explode as violently as others." Toothless added.

"Well had I known that I would've let you stay on Berk if you could." Hiccup told him.

"No you wouldn't, they still explode." Sapphire replied. Just then, the egg quivered and cracked. Toothless shielded Hiccup with a wing, and there was a soft 'BANG' as the newborn hatchling came into the world.

"Oh my! She's beautiful!" Sapphire gasped. Toothless folded his wing, allowing Hiccup to see the new Night Fury. She had big blue eyes like her mother, the baby's had a little violet ring around her pupils; she had short ears that were sure to grow as she got older, and her wings and fins seemed to be proportionally large for her small stature; but her most outstanding feature was her coloration. Unlike her parents, she was solid blue with markings that were a few shades darker, and some of her small scales were metallic silver like stars on a sky.

"Is that how your hatchlings are supposed to look?" Hiccup asked.

"No, normally we start out gray and then we grow darker as our baby scales shed." Toothless replied.

"Well, maybe Shadowrath or Aric can explain this coloration. She is very beautiful though." Hiccup told him.

"Toothless, how do you like Brünhild for a name?" Sapphire asked.

"Actually, that's what Aric named his daughter." Hiccup cut in before Toothless could answer.

"ARIC HAS A HATCHLING!" The two dragons exclaimed, gaining the attention of other dragons

"Surprised us too." Hiccup replied. The mature dragons around him tossed their wings up ready for the return migration. Hiccup's eyes went wide, and he exclaimed: "Wait, wait a minute! Brünhild will be there when you return! Let's wait for two days before we go back, by then it will Snoggletog eve."

On Snoggletog Eve the dragons returned to Berk, hauling their ship of hatchlings through the sky. Astrid saw them approaching with the Night Furies at the lead.

"HICCUP'S BACK!" She hollered for all to hear. The dragons set their ship down and returned to their respectful Vikings. From above, Shadowrath and Stav spotted the grounded Night Furies and descended. The new addition to Shadowrath's family was beautiful, and still unnamed, but he was amazed with her coloration.

"She will grow to be an amazing dragon." Shadowrath told the new parents. Stav hopped off his back and lowered himself before the baby Night Fury and admired it, along with Valka and Gobber.

"Wow, what a magnificent creature." Valka stated.

Hiccup brought them over to his home for a more private celebration. The women had prepared a hearty Snoggletog feast in the Haddock house, and a while back Hiccup had invited Stav and Shadowrath to join him for the celebration.

As the humans ate, the four Night Furies were piled together trying to think up of a name for the hatchling. Some of them were pretty good, but didn't seem to fit her, while others were worse than 'Toothless' and made Hiccup laugh at the thought of calling a dragon such a name.

At the time, other dragons were pestering Aric to show Brünhild to them. Their hearts simply melted when they saw the baby Bewilderbeast.

For gifts Hiccup had gotten some books from both Valka and Astrid, and Gobber had given him some silk. Hey, after making so many saddles, Hiccup had become quite talented in working with a needle and thread and actually became his personal tailor. Hiccup had fixed up some new prosthetics for Gobber and more jewelry for the ladies with dragon scales set in them. Valka had given Gobber a nicer set of clothes to wear for any occasion, and gave Astrid a new skirt made with fur rather than spikes. The only person left without a present was Stav, and he was the one who brought the mead. He wasn't really expecting anything though, so it was to his surprise when Hiccup pulled out a parcel for him. After uncovering it, he found that the Chief had given him a spear with a Gronkle Iron head with Shadowrath's face engraved on it. The spear was perfectly balanced and so sharp that it drew blood at the touch!

"I remember when you first came here, the spear was the only weapon you had on your person. It wasn't the best spear I've ever seen, so I made that for you. When it hits its target it shoots out a flag so you find it later. Unfortunately the only color I had for the flag was pink." Hiccup told him. Stoick, or rather Stav the Silent, pulled Hiccup in for a tight one-armed hug. Even though his own family still didn't know who he really was, it was one of the best Snoggletogs he ever had.

**End of Chapter Five! Now, the Night Fury hatchling needs a name. In the reviews give me your best suggestions and you'll win a special shout out in the next AN for the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6: The Big Day

**Chapter Six: The Big Day**

**Shadowdragon1317, you've been ever so patient for this moment.**

Great step pyramids stood before Drago Bludvist. He ascended these temples of the great serpentine dragons known as Quetzalcoatl, or the Feathered Serpents. These dragons had long and narrow heads with a mane of feathers, and their scales were soft to the touch. Their wings were feathered like birds. They didn't have legs, and their tails ended in feathers, but they were dangerous. If they weren't killing their prey with fire, it was with their fangs or through use of constriction. And with a Dragonstone and a Bewilderbeast, they were quick to ally themselves with Drago.

* * *

"Quit fussing, Hiccup, you look fine!" Gobber snapped.

"In case you've forgotten, I'm getting _married_ today!" Hiccup exclaimed. It was still winter, just two weeks after Snoggletog, and the wait just couldn't last any longer. He and Astrid had everything ready right now except themselves. Hiccup had donned an elaborate tunic he made using the silk given to him from Gobber, and a boot he took the last time they had to go out and pillage. Hiccup didn't like pillaging, in act the first and last time they went pillaging, he brought enough dragons to rile up and distract the locals, while his tribe went out and stole whatever they needed. It was clean, efficient, and the locals had no idea what hit them.

He was also wearing a luxurious cloak he had pilfered along with the boot and a pair of soft trousers. At the moment, he was busy letting Gobber polish his prosthetic, but he wouldn't stop fussing with his hair, and it was getting on Gobber's nerves. The problem he was having was that he wanted to match a braid pattern with one of those Stoick had used for his beard; he used a lot of patterns, but he wanted a specific one in honor of his memory. Stoick, sitting behind him, saw what he was trying to do and helped him out with it.

"Thanks, Stav." Hiccup told him. The silent man smiled and gave him a nod. Hiccup stood up, looked into the mirror, then he looked over to his dragon, and asked him: "Well, Toothless, how do I look?"

The dragon gave him a gummy smile.

"Dragon pity, thanks, Toothless." Hiccup stated. The Dragonstone was still in his shoulder armor, but Valka was wearing it so she could keep an eye on it and she asked to have a turn to understand the dragons.

"Toothless is just messin' with ya. You look great!" Gobber replied.

In the Hofferson home, Astrid was having her own problems, she too was fussing, but her fusses were over Ruffnut and her mother primping her up for the ceremony.

"I don't need any cosmetics, just do my hair and help me into the dress!" She snapped. Stormfly, sensing her hostility, chose to step away from the window.

"Ruff, would you hand me that gel? It will do wonders for her bangs." Mrs. Hofferson said.

"No! No gel! Valka, would you do the honors, please?" Astrid asked.

"Of course." She replied. She went over and pulled out a box, it was filled with beads which she would put in her own hair. She made three skinny braids on each side of Astrid's face, weaving the beads into the strands, she tied the ones that lined up together at the back of her head but they hung loosely forming a 'U' shape, and at the crown of her head she formed a wider braid that overlapped the six braids she made. This style left her with some loose hair underneath all the braids. She also pulled out a short knife to trim away the extra length of her bangs so people could see her face.

"This looks great! Thank you Valka!" Astrid exclaimed. Ruffnut liked the look so much she asked Valka to give her a different look too. She was given a more Celtic style, and it gave her a sense of femininity that wasn't typically displayed in Ruffnut. Eret was sure to like it.

Now all Astrid had to do was get into her wedding dress and haul off to the Great Hall.

Hiccup was standing before his people with Toothless at his side as if he were the best man. Well he was definitely the best dragon. Gobber also stood with him, but he was the one conducting the ceremony.

Astrid walked in with their mother's following her and Ruffnut right behind them. Astrid looked so amazing and so beautiful that Hiccup was practically in tears over the disbelief that this _goddess_ was promising herself to him!

When Astrid stepped in, she saw Hiccup dressed in his best clothes. He looked quite dashing, and in doing so, her hormones started to play with her brain as the thought of consummating their marriage crossed her mind. It produced a rather cute smile on her face.

Gobber was quick to perform the ceremony so the reception could start up.

The feast they held in their honor was huge and delicious. Now it was time for some singing and dancing. Hiccup had some practice in dancing before the wedding and was more coordinated than people remembered him to be.

Dragons were also joining the party in their own way. With the tables moved so everyone could dance at once, the dragons would hum to the music or dance in their own way. The good thing about dancing dragons was that they were cautious enough to be sure that they wouldn't knock anybody over.

People danced and sang for several hours and drank tankards of mead in between the songs. Everybody was happy and everything was perfect right now… So something had to ruin it in some way.

It was time for Hiccup and Astrid to sing in front of the village. When sober both the bride and groom were fairly decent singers. Luckily, they didn't have much to drink so they carried on with a cheery melody. The problem was Gobber and Valka were dancing together and they were close enough for Stav/Stoick to hear this:

"Maybe we should sing this for our wedding." Gobber stated.

"WHAT?!" A voice boomed.

The… Whole… Damn… Village… Went… Silent.

No one ever thought that they would hear this booming voice again! It was a rough voice, but it was a voice they knew and loved, because the owner of this voice was once the peacemaker of Berk. This was the voice of none other than Stoick the Vast!

Everyone in the Great Hall had turned and faced the man who they heard to voice come from. At the same time Hiccup and Astrid slowly approached the man, and stopped, standing next to Valka and Gobber.

Now that he had everyone's attention, and now that everyone had heard him, there was no use in hiding in plain sight for him anymore. He lifted his helmet, revealing the entirety of his face for the first time in a few months. The reactions he got were as he'd expected, but they were a lot quieter than he'd anticipated. He received mixed looks of shock, confusion, delight, a touch of fear, and joy. Looking to his family, he found that their faces were the best. Gobber, Valka, Hiccup, and Astrid all wore wide eyes, slackened jaws, and if they were holding anything they would've dropped it. However, as far as the reactions were concerned, none were as comical as that of Toothless'. His eyes were as wide as they could go, his pupils were slits, wings were dropped to the floor, his jaw could _not_ have dropped any lower, and his tongue hung out of his mouth!

**Bit of a cliffhanger here, but this was a good chapter right? Please review, especially you there. Don't you dare think about leaving this page until you do! I'm still taking names for Toothless and Sapphire's hatchling.**


	7. Chapter 7: Family Matters

**Chapter Seven: Family Matters**

**Warning: Mature Content to Follow**

Toothless eventually composed himself, and with a draconic smile he pounced Stoick, sending him to the ground. The Night Fury held him down while covering Stoick in licks all over his face, and eventually started nuzzling him madly!

"Oh I'm so happy! I'm so happy you're back! You're not dead, which means I didn't kill you! I'm so happy to see you again, Stoick! Thank you for coming back! Thank you for coming back with Aric and Night Furies! I love you, Stoick!" Toothless exclaimed. Valka translated for Hiccup. The young Chief stood in his stupor and shock for a little while longer before calling the dragon off his father; and Gobber helped his old friend back on his feet. Toothless still stood at Stoick's side, beaming with his gummy, draconic, smile.

Now that Stoick was on his feet, Hiccup took the sight of his face in. It suffered scars from burns and cuts. His beard had been trimmed greatly, and would need another cut if he wanted to get rid of the smell of dragon breath. Yet, looking into his eyes, and taking in the color of his beard, and the sound of his voice, there was no doubt that this was his father.

"H-how…? Toothless… a plasma blast… the-the _pyre!_" Hiccup stuttered.

"I take that I have some explaining to do." Stoick sated.

"First my mother dies; twenty years later, she comes back to life. Then my father dies, and now _he's_ back! How is it that my parents keep dying and coming back to life? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that you're both here and well, but it can mess with your son's head! This is a lot to take in. I'm sorry, Dad, the explanation will have to wait. I need some time and air to take this in; but welcome _back_ to Berk!" Hiccup went on. He turned his attention to Toothless and asked: "Hey, Bud, do you want to go flying?" To his surprise the dragon gave him a low grumble that Hiccup understood as his way of saying 'no'.

"Fine, I'll ask Shadowrath."

The red-violet-eyed Night Fury nodded to Hiccup, approving his request to fly with him. Valka returned the hidden Dragonstone to him so they could chat if Hiccup found the need. The pair departed, leaving the rest of the village to welcome Stoick and to hear his story. Astrid was a bit torn between following Hiccup and listening to Stoick, but decided that this was a time to allow her husband to fly solo.

Speaking of Hiccup, he'd finished fitting a saddle on Shadowrath and switched from his fancy clothes to his typical flying uniform. Now that he was ready, he saddled up on Shadowrath and they took off into a calm flight over Berk and the sea.

"I've been around many Night Furies, but I've never met one who was so pleased to see someone that he actually adopted the mannerisms of a puppy dog who hadn't seen his master for a while. What did he mean when said that he was glad to know that he didn't kill my rider?" Shadowrath said.

"Not too long ago we were fighting a dragon trapper with an enslaved Bewilderbeast. The massive dragon had finished off Aric, or so we thought, and the trapper commanded the Bewilderbeast to take control over Toothless and kill me. Your rider saved me at the last possible second, but he took the blast. We'd thought him to be dead so we arranged his funeral on the spot. It may not've been Toothless' fault but he did feel guilty about it and he was really the weapon that was meant to kill him. I was so mad at him at that moment, as you can probably understand, but I had to forgive him in order for him to snap out of his trance. Then to find out that the man we thought he killed is back, well he could put his guilt to rest and welcome a good man back." Hiccup replied.

* * *

Back in the Great Hall, Stoick just finished his story and then focused his attention to Valka, Gobber, and their engagement.

"Stoick, please understand that we all thought you were in Valhalla." Valka pleaded.

"It's not that the two of you thought I was gone that upsets me, it's the fact that it happened so soon after the day you thought I was killed. It wasn't that long, and I would've figured that you were still a grieving widow by this time." He replied.

"When I asked Hiccup for his blessing to propose, he was a bit surprised too. He said that he saw it coming eventually, just not so soon." Gobber admitted.

"Well, Valka, I understand that you've said 'yes' to him, but you've also said 'yes' to me as well. Do you still want Gobber, or will you come back to me?" Stoick asked. The question hit poor Valka like a strike from a Skrill. She slipped the ring from Gobber off of her hand and set it on a table.

"I don't know. I need to think about it, or perhaps you should decide amongst yourselves." Valka replied. Then she left. With the groom and his mother out of the hall now, the villagers decided that the party was over. Even Astrid was among the first group to leave,

* * *

In the skies, Shadowrath had told Hiccup about the stories Toothless had told him. Such as the one where he lost his fin leading up to how he bit off Hiccup's leg after defeating the Red Death. He was impressed with Toothless' accomplishments, but he couldn't wrap his head around how the young Night Fury was so quick to forgive him for his injury.

"So, how did you meet my dad? There weren't any Night Furies living with Aric when I discovered his sanctuary." Hiccup asked.

"Sapphire and I were heading to the Night Fury breeding grounds for her to select a mate when Aric called us down. Your father gave us fish and was in a need of a pair of wings. Aric mentioned that your father could also lead us to another male Night Fury, so I allowed him to put his saddle on me and brought him here. What really attracted me to him was the fact that he approached us with no hostility or fear, and I could tell he was strong because of his scars. He was a brave soul who'd seen his share of battles, and was a leader, not unlike myself. Yes, your father reminded me of myself."

"What did you think of Toothless when you met him?" Hiccup asked.

"I thought he was a cocky little bugger with too big of an ego who'd seen too little of fights and wars. Then, I smelled the tusk in the stables, and then Sapphire shot his false fin off his tail and that's when I realized that he had to have been through worse things than I have. The poor soul must've been unable to fly for longer than I can bear to imagine. So I developed a sense of respect for him. So how does riding with me compare to riding with Toothless?"

"I could tell you were a Night Fury if I walked up to you with a blindfold before hopping on your back. Due to your size you don't flap as often as Toothless, and you seem to hold yourself more rigid than he does, but that could also be due to your size. It's also less work for me to ride a dragon without a false fin, and Toothless seems that he has to make slight alterations to compensate for the false fin's movements. I really wish I could fix his tail so he had a natural fin again."

"He'd be faster than you've ever known him to be. As long as there is metal in place of bone on his tail, you'll never know the speed Toothless is capable of… but need I remind you that the Dragonstone has many mysterious powers?" Shadowrath replied. He continued his gentle flight until Hiccup decided that knowing that Stav the Silent had been his father all along had finally soaked in. He told Shadowrath that he was ready to land, and the Night Fury descended onto Stoick's property. Hiccup dismounted and the door to the house opened before he could knock, his father standing at the threshold, inviting both his son and the dragon inside.

As Shadowrath curled up beside a fire Hiccup and Stoick sat down on the only chairs in the house. Stoick brought out some bread, butter, and some imported beer while Hiccup made himself comfortable. When Stoick set the bread and beer on the table, he asked his son: "So, are you here for the story now?"

"Yes, I would like to know how you survived and managed to bring Aric here." Hiccup replied.

"At first, I thought I was really gone, just like you all thought. Odin came to me and said that while my actions in saving you were noble, it was not the ending the gods had in mind for me. So his sons, Loki and Thor, decided to save me from the pyre. They gave me a uniform to replace the one I'd been wearing during the battle, and I found Aric. Loki had finished healing his wounds, but he was still weak. He told me that if I helped him regain his strength, he would reward me. I spent days using leftover spears and ropes to catch fish for him, and eventually he requested some of the remaining dragons to assist me. Then there came the night when I heard the familiar whistling of a Night Fury. At first I thought it was you, because what other Night Fury would have the reason to come over. Aric called to Shadowrath and Sapphire and I was quite surprised to see that neither one of them turned out to be Toothless. I managed to train Shadowrath quickly, but I believe that Aric had helped me out a bit. When I was ready to return to Berk, I gathered the materials to make Shadowrath's saddle and we took off for Berk, Aric and the rest of the dragons following behind."

"So you've made a bond with Aric and Shadowrath. That's what I would've done, but what I don't understand is why you kept your true identity a secret from us." Hiccup replied.

"I didn't like it; but I was showing up with a Bewilderbeast, whom you would've thought shared the same fate as I did, two Night Furies, and I knew you wouldn't recognize me at first sight. I also thought that if I revealed myself to you on that same night, it would be too much for you and your mother to handle. I feared that you would faint or something. So I decided to reveal myself when the time was right. Except I did not plan on being surprised during our wedding in a way that would reveal myself to the village. I'm terribly sorry about that, it brought unneeded drama to your wedding." Stoick told him.

"Hey, I've forgiven you for that already… but it was telling Mother that you were ready to take her back that crossed a line. I don't want to know what went on between you and Gobber right now, but I'm sure that headaches are going around."

"By the way, Hiccup, you turned out to be one of the finest chiefs I've ever known." Stoick replied.

"Thanks, Dad; now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a wife waiting for me." He told him. He'd gotten up to leave just as Stoick said: "Aye, and the witnesses will be waiting for you too by now." Hiccup froze in his tracks, turned to his father and questioned: "_Witnesses?_"

"Aye, they'll be there to witness the consummation of your marriage." Stoick replied. Hiccup blushed _furiously_ before waving 'goodbye' to his father as he headed home.

He found Valka sitting outside the house with the Night Fury hatchling curled up beside her, and had a piece of an icicle she dislodged from the roof with a snowball, she held it against her head and told Hiccup: "Boys will be boys. They decided to have a tournament to win my hand." Hiccup sighed knowing that the whole village would have to bear witness to such an event.

"Astrid and the witnesses are waiting for you now." Valka added casually. Hiccup turned redder than before.

The witnesses happened to be Bucket and Mulch, they were happy to see him and he was happy to see them; he just wished that the circumstances of their visit was different. He nodded to them before passing through the threshold to the bedroom where he found Astrid waiting for him on the bed and Sapphire and Toothless piled together. As Hiccup and Astrid began to undress each other awkwardly. Sapphire and Toothless figured out what was going on and realized that things would be less awkward if the other two humans weren't watching. So they got up and with their backs turned to Hiccup and Astrid, they used their wings to block the witness's view.

Hiccup and Astrid had to admit that it did make things more comfortable for them. Hiccup was sitting on the bed, stark naked, removing his prosthetic before Astrid climbed on top of him. When they switched positions, Astrid covered her mouth to keep her loud moaning and pleas to several deities muffled, but the climax was coming up and both dragons were overtaken with curiosity and had turned around. So _that's_ what it looked like when humans mated!

At the end, the couple were snuggled together, panting, and covered in a layer of sweat. They weren't too thrilled when they found out that their witnesses turned out to be Night Furies, but it was better than letting Bucket and Mulch watch… _or_ their parents.

"Wow… that was amazing." Astrid stated. Hiccup nodded.

**That was for you Hicstrid fans out there. Now, this is your last chance to submit your names for the Night Fury hatchling, remember, it's a girl.**


	8. Chapter 8: Unnecessary Drama

**Chapter Eight: Unnecessary Drama **

**Elsie: Don't choke on me this time, and for some reason I can't reply to you via private messaging.**

**Out of curiosity, guys, what is your favorite of these following dragons: Stormcutter (like Cloudjumper), Monstrous Nightmare, or Skrill. It will help me out in future chapters.**

Hiccup woke up the next morning with Astrid still snuggled up to him. He was hers now and she was his. He didn't want to leave her just yet, but he was the Chief, and his tribe needed him. He kissed her and got out of bed, he found the Night Fury hatchling curled up around his false leg. Hiccup reached for his prosthetic but the baby Night Fury looked up at him, hissed, and tightened her grip on it. Hiccup gabbed it and she nearly snapped his hand off!

"Hey, c'mon I need that to walk!" Hiccup snapped. The little Night Fury chattered mockingly at him and pulled the prosthetic further away from him. Hiccup scowled at the mischievous brat and called out: "Toothless, it's time to discipline your daughter!"

The dragon groaned and woke up to find his hatchling chewing on the metal of Hiccup's false limb. His drowsiness vanished from his face the second he realized the trouble his daughter was getting herself into. He let out a quick roar and the hatchling looked at him with a face of guilt. After Toothless gave her another growl, the hatchling returned the false limb to its rightful owner. Hiccup accepted the limb, the dragon crooned in apology, and he told the baby dragon: "Apology accepted, little one." The young Chief proceeded to fit the prosthetic over his stump and dress himself.

Now that he was donned in his typical uniform, designed to go flying, into battle, and for concealing the Dragonstone; Hiccup went downstairs to prepare a breakfast hash of scrambled eggs, pieces of roast boar, cubed potatoes, and crumbled yak cheese. The scent of it filled the house and woke up the two women living inside it.

Astrid was the first to enter the room. She greeted Hiccup by kissing his lips, but they stayed together long enough for Valka and the resident dragons to enter the room without them noticing.

"Hiccup, if you don't break away soon, there will be more than your passion burning in this room." Valka stated, referring to the breakfast hash still cooking over the fire. The newlyweds parted, blushing furiously. Hiccup moved the hash over to the table and began dishing it into separate bowls, which Astrid had brought out for him.

"There's no need to feel so awkward, I would appreciate having some grandchildren." Valka stated. She relished seeing her son and new daughter-in-law blush when they did nothing that was not natural or traditional in the first place.

"Mother, will you please change the subject?" Hiccup asked, trying to maintain his composure.

"Just one more thing, and I'll stop: as important the two of you are to the village, I'm surprised that you didn't have a crowd outside, cheering like Stoick and I had."

"AAAAWWWWGGGGHHHH, _MOM!_ YOUR SON AND CHIEF DID _NOT_ NEED TO HEAR _THAT!_" Hiccup exclaimed. Valka and Astrid were laughing at him now. He sat at the table and ate his breakfast quickly so he could get out of there.

"So, Hiccup, now that Stoick is back, do you think that he'd want to resume his old position?" Astrid asked.

"He seems to be pretty content helping the village out as a carpenter and fisherman; but I suppose that it wouldn't hurt to tell him that he's welcome to take up a high position in our armada and be another second-in-command with you two. He was planning on retiring pretty quick before Toothless shot him, so I know that he doesn't want his old position back. He even praised me on how I was handling being Chief." Hiccup replied.

"He would make a good acting Chief when you go off to find the edge of the world." Astrid replied.

"The world is round." Valka put in. The newlyweds looked at her in disbelief.

"I've lived with dragons for twenty years, and out of curiosity to find the edge of the world, I chose to fly east. We came across many wonderful cultures, but we eventually ended where we began. So all I did was circle around the world." Valka explained. Cloudjumper nodded and told them: "It's true, I was the dragon who went on the trip with her." Of course only Hiccup could understand him.

"So, Hiccup, now that we have proof that there are more Night Furies in the world, would you like to come down to the Academy to give a lecture on them?" Valka asked.

"That sounds pretty good." Hiccup replied. The family finished up their breakfast and headed off to do whatever they planned for the day

At noon the Academy was crowded. Astrid, Hiccup, and Valka spread the word that there was going to be a Night Fury lecture. Obviously, because of their reputation, the villagers of Berk were going to be interested in this. The students were gathered in the arena, while the other villagers gathered around it, and everybody silenced when Hiccup led the resident Night Furies into the arena.

"The Night Fury, one of the few Strike class breeds. The epitome of speed, stealth, and intelligence of dragons. They are proud, confident, loyal, protective, and strong fighters. You all know Toothless as the defeater of the Red Death, and he took command over Berk's dragons to drive Drago Bludvist's Bewilderbeast away from our island. Now, who wants to learn how to train one?" Hiccup announced. The crowd cheered for him and then he gestured to Sapphire and announced: "Aside from her hatchling, Sapphire is the only Night Fury who hasn't bonded with a human; therefore she is the most wild adult Night Fury on Berk. Today, the students get to learn how to train a Strike class dragon. Hildegard, you're up today."

Hildegard was a shy girl with a family who owned a Monstrous Nightmare that she admitted scares her. Her family signed her up for the Academy in hopes that she'd get over her fear, but she still didn't like Monstrous Nightmares, or Hideous Zipplebacks for that matter. So Hiccup figured that she'd be more open to train a smaller, and prettier, dragon.

"Now, the first thing to do when training a Strike class dragon is to earn their trust. Approaching the dragon unarmed and present a food offering is a good way to earn that trust." Hiccup announced. He pulled out a smoked salmon and handed off to Hildegard.

"WAIT! SHE SNAPS!" Stoick shouted from outside the arena.

"Thank you, Stoick!" Hiccup called back. He turned his attention to Sapphire and told her quietly: "Hildegard is already shy and she's afraid of Monstrous Nightmares and Zipplebacks, so I need you to be gentle with her, and I think that it would be good if you kept your teeth retracted."

"Will do then." Sapphire told him.

"Alright, Hildegard, step towards Sapphire slowly and extend your hand with the fish. Sapphire will approach you and accept it." Hiccup stated. Hildegard approached Sapphire until she bared her teeth, and then Hiccup told her: "She's just telling you that you're close enough, now let her approach you."

Hildegard stopped in her tracks and Sapphire's expression softened. She slowly approached, opened her gummy maw, and gently snatched the fish offering. Hildegard flinched and took a half-step back.

"Hey, you're doing well." Hiccup told her. Sapphire stepped towards Hildegard with her eyes rolled back into her head.

_Oh, no._ Hiccup thought as he caught this action. Sapphire started making gagging noises and regurgitated half a fish, where it landed in front of Hildegard's feet with a 'SPLAT'! Knowing full well that Hildegard wasn't going to pick it up, Hiccup picked up the half of fish and announced: "Now when a dragon regurgitates a hunk of fish for you, they do expect you to eat it. When a wild Night Fury does this for you, it is a good idea to take at least a bite out of it and swallow."

Hildegard looked at the fish with a face of utter repulsion. She turned her attention to the other Night Furies and saw Toothless regurgitate a fish for his hatchling; the hatchling swallowed it with the gusto of Viking men enjoying their Snoggletog turkey.

"You do need to take a bite out of it, and she will be willing to become your friend if you do." Hiccup told Hildegard. With great, and understandable, reluctance, Hildegard took a bite of the fish and quickly swallowed before she could chuck the fish back up.

"Now, lift your hand and look away." Hiccup told her. She followed his order and Sapphire fitted her snout into the girl's palm.

"She did it!" Hiccup called out. The crowd cheered for her as Sapphire gave her a nuzzle.

"Can I ride her?" Hildegard asked.

"Not right now, but the next time I go out for a flight, I'll let you ride her then." Hiccup replied. He continued with the lecture on the statistics of the Night Fury before the arena cleared out for the day.

Hiccup geared up Toothless and Sapphire to go flying. When they were ready, Toothless wearing his preferred red fin, he turned to find his flight helmet, only to find that the Night Fury hatchling had gotten a hold of it!

"You're a real Loki, aren't you?" He asked the mischievous dragon. Offended, Sapphire reared up and roared to him: "HER NAME IS MIDNIGHTFIRE!"

"Oh, so you guys finally settled on a name for her. _Midnightfire,_ that's pretty, now can you get her to give me my helmet back?" Hiccup asked. Sapphire sent Midnightfire a disapproving glare and the young dragon returned the helmet to Hiccup.

Hildegard had a wonderful time circling the island with Hiccup while riding Sapphire and with Midnightfire flying alongside her. At one of the beaches, they found Aric in the water as he was watching Brünhild play on her own. Midnightfire had never seen the Bewilderbeast hatchling before, and dived down. Her parents diving after her before landing on the beach.

Hiccup and the adult dragons found that Brünhild had grown a bit since she hatched. Still, she was a small Bewilderbeast, and now she had a young Night Fury who was curious in her. The two hatchlings sniffed each other before Brünhild blew a puff of her icy breath over Midnightfire. She shook off the snow that accumulated on her scales and then showed Brünhild how she shot a plasma blast. She fired a bolt straight up, it was scarlet in color and it exploded in a powerful blast. The only time he saw Toothless' blasts get that powerful was when he got sick from eating an eel and battled Drago Bludvist's Bewilderbeast. It was kind of hard to tell in which scenario his blasts were the most powerful, but to see a _hatchling_ display that kind of power made him think. She was an odd coloration, her parents told him so, and now her blasts behave differently than her parents'. He would have to keep an eye on her. He knew that dragons were capable of producing offspring that were really a subspecies of their own. The Screaming Death, for example, was a subspecies of Whispering Death.

Brünhild and Midnightfire became fast friends and played for a while before Hiccup put the game to a stop so he could bring Hildegard home.

Dinner that night was a fish stew. Hiccup loved his mother's fish stew, but it was a dish that they had to share with their dragons, with the exception of Stormfly who preferred chicken now. This dish had to be shared otherwise the dragons would try to steal some out of instinct to eat the fish. The biggest consequence of this was the pot that Hiccup had to make in order to feed a Stormcutter and Night Fury. Now that Sapphire and Midnightfire were a part of the family, Hiccup feared that he'd have to make an even larger pot. No, the dragons had regular fish, they can eat that instead they don't need the stew.

When Cloudjumper and Toothless finished cleaning the pot, by licking every last remnant of stew out of it, the two dragons curled by their respective riders, along with Astrid and Stormfly. Valka was telling another one of her exciting adventures during her years living among the dragons. As he listened, Hiccup was stroking the tip of Toothless' tail; he was now free of any false fins. As his fingers passed over the old grey scar where his original fin had been, Hiccup felt a mystical discharge from the Dragonstone surge through his arm as if his flesh were a conduit, and the magic seeped into the old wound. Suddenly the dragon sprang to his feet and began thrashing about the room. He roared as if he were in pain, and kept knocking things over as Astrid held the door open for Toothless to get out of the house. He leapt outside some more before whatever he was feeling come to a stop. Hiccup ran over to him saying: "I'm so sorry, Bud, I didn't mean…" He looked off to the side where Toothless' missing tailfin was and he gasped in amazement.

"Toothless, your tail!" He exclaimed. Toothless curved his tail to examine the tip, and he wore the same face as he had when he found out that Stav the Silent was Stoick the Vast. His natural tailfin had grown back! He looked back at Hiccup in gratitude and disbelief.

"Thank you, but I didn't ask for this." He told him.

"I didn't know that the Dragonstone had the ability to heal you… but now you can fly on your own without a prosthetic at all!" Hiccup replied.

"Yes, that will be nice, but I saw it as a sign of our friendship, the false fin, as with your false leg." Toothless told him.

"This leg doesn't slow me down, but your false tail did. Go on, Toothless, I want to see you circle the island."

"Ha, with this fin and at this time of night, you won't see me at all!" Toothless declared. He tossed his wings up and took off. He circled the island a few times and he passed Hiccup so fast that if he blinked, he'd miss him. He flew faster than Hiccup had ever gone before with him. He was in complete awe with his dragon as Toothless landed before him with a proud draconic smile.

"Toothless, that was an amazing show!" Astrid declared.

"I'll admit it is nice to not have a chunk of metal slow me down anymore. However, Hiccup, you're not off the hook for making permanent changes to my body without permission." Toothless stated, casting Hiccup a half-hearted glare.

"Hey, it was an accident! I told you I didn't know that the Dragonstone could heal your old injury… Although I believe Shadowrath implied it on the wedding night. Either way, I didn't know it would happen tonight, just y touching your old scar!" Hiccup replied.

"May I have a turn with the stone tomorrow, Hiccup? There are a few dragons I would like to heal, such as the blind Hobblegrunt." Valka said.

"Of course, but you may want to ask for their consent first. I'm sure they'll say 'yes' but apparently you shouldn't make permanent changed to a dragon's body without their consent." Hiccup told her.

When Hiccup went to bed that night, Midnightfire got a hold of the piece of armor holding the Dragonstone. With a plasma blast, the piece of armor broke open, revealing the beautiful glowing gem inside. Of course, as a toddler, Midnightfire only saw a glowing rock. She batted it around the room for a while until the stone hit a wall, and a bolt of magic stuck a slumbering human. That human rolled out of bed dragging the covers with it. Midnightfire abandoned the stone and picked the covers up and placed them back on the bed. When Midnightfire checked on the other human… Well, let's just say that she knew that she was going to be in deep trouble the next morning!

**Oh man, cliffhanger! I'm so sorry, but you know how fast I update. So, the votes were in, and the winning name was Midnight with three votes. However, due to the fact that 2/3 of the votes were for Midnight and Nightfire, I decided to combine the two names. Congratulations to Rouge Deity Master for coming up with the winning name. Although, Midnightfire is kind of a troublemaking brat isn't she? She'll get better though.**


	9. Chapter 9: Trouble Brewed

**Chapter Nine: Trouble Brewing… No, Trouble ****_Brewed!_**

**Voters message taken down, in case you didn't notice that already, therefore Chapter Eight has taken its place. Thank you to those who've provided me with constructive criticism, your praise, and participation. What can I say? I love hearing your input.**

There was a sound of a sniffing dragon in the room. Astrid woke up and found herself on the floor.

_I must've rolled out of bed._ She thought to herself. She opened her eyes fully now and found Midnightfire staring at her with a small smile on her face. The small Night Fury began licking her face, making Astrid laugh at a tickling sensation before dozing off again. It was pretty early in the morning.

Hiccup woke up and rolled over to look upon Astrid's sleeping face that morning, but found that her side of the bed was empty. This was odd, he was normally the first one up, and he couldn't smell anything cooking downstairs. He rolled out of bed and looking off to the side, he found the Dragonstone sitting by the stairway.

_How did _that_ get there?_ Hiccup thought as he went over to pick it up, but a certain Night Fury hatchling beat him to it. Midnightfire took the stone in her mouth and flew to the rafters. Hiccup sighed heavily; a baby dragon will listen to nobody but their parents. He turned back towards the bed and was taken aback by a surprising sight. On the floor, on Astrid's side of the bed, he found a lilac Stormcutter with blue accents. Around the dragon's body were torn fragments of Astrid's clothes. At the sight, Hiccup's heart raced, he picked up a shield with a mirrored surface, and held it up in front of him until he walked around the meet the dragon's face. Unlike Cloudjumper, the eyebrow spines were narrow and were more in a vertical position (Cloudjumper's are horizontal) and not only were the eyes larger than Cloudjumper's, they were the color of Astrid's rather then being the typical yellow.

_Ok, somehow my wife had been turned into a dragon. Midnightfire must've been playing with it after breaking it out of the armor, and somehow managed to change Astrid into a dragon._ Hiccup thought quickly. Before Astrid could suspect something was up, he told her: "Good morning, Astrid, you look like you slept well."

"Aww, thanks, Hiccup." She replied. Except he couldn't understand her without the Dragonstone.

"There's just one thing out of sorts with you. Try to not freak out though." Hiccup added. Quickly, he held the mirrored surface of the shield to face her. Astrid locked eyes with her, now draconic, reflection and… what else would she do? She screamed bloody murder!

"Astrid, NO!" Hiccup exclaimed. His draconic wife was thrashing about the room, knocking everything over if it got in her way, and such items included the bed. She was in a full-blown panic fueled with shock and confusion. Then her eyes locked with Midnightfire's and she snarled: "YOU! You did _this_ to me, spawn of Loki! Give me that stone!" She lunged for the hatchling, trying to snatch her with her wings.

"HELP ME!" Midnightfire shrieked through the stone in her mouth. The ruckus alerted Toothless and Sapphire, who came up from downstairs to find Hiccup trying to calm a Stormcutter who was trying to snatch their hatchling. Their protective instincts kicked it and they attacked. Sapphire leapt up to the rafters to protect Midnightfire, while Toothless faced against Stormcutter Astrid. Sapphire and Midnightfire took off when Hiccup joined the scuffle to get the other dragons to back off from each other. Unfortunately, Astrid knocked him away accidentally with a wing. She sent him flying into a wall, and knocked him out. Now Toothless was furious with her, and she saw that Midnightfire took off with the stone without her mother knowing. Toothless chased Astrid out of the house, who broke the window-frame on her way out, but now she was off in pursuit of his family. Knowing this, Toothless took off after her. He passed her easily enough, so now he was in pursuit of his family to ensure that Astrid wouldn't harm his family.

* * *

Hiccup awoke a short while later to find his mother kneeling beside him, holding a warm rag on his head.

"Hiccup, what happened in here?" Valka asked.

Hiccup tried to get to his feet, but only succeeded in toppling over. His false limb had been knocked off when he hit the wall. He rolled over to look at his mother and told her: "Midnightfire broke the stone out of the armor, played with it during the night, and turned Astrid into a dragon!" Hiccup exclaimed. Looking around the destroyed room, he added: "When she found out what happened to her, she panicked. She was snarling at Midnightfire, and that alerted Sapphire and Toothless. Sapphire and Midnightfire fled, Astrid soon followed after them because Midnightfire must've still had a hold of the stone, and Toothless took off to protect his family! Mother, I need to borrow Cloudjumper and go after them!"

"Alright, you can borrow Cloudjumper, but I'm going with you. Now, what does Astrid look like now?" Valka replied.

"She's a lilac Stormcutter with blue accents and blue eyes. Now lets go!" Hiccup told her while fastening his prosthetic and getting his flight uniform on. Valka quickly adorned her armor and they hopped on Cloudjumper to hunt down Astrid first. Chances are that Night Furies with a lot of experience flying would've gained a lot of distance over a human-turned- dragon.

* * *

Cloudjumper tracked Astrid's scent down to Healer's Island. It was a beautiful place with plants blooming with medicinal properties when winter was over, but they weren't here for plants. At least Astrid wasn't hiding in the trees or anything. She actually settled herself by the edge of a cliff so she could enjoy the view.

When Cloudjumper landed, he was in complete awe. To him, Astrid had become the most beautiful dragon he'd ever seen! Her coloration was unique to his species, her scales were flawless and glowed with a healthy sheen, her eyes were penetrating, and she was strong. The trip to Healer's Island was a pretty impressive trek for someone who'd never flown with wings of her own. Once Hiccup and Valka dismounted, Cloudjumper took off in search for some fish. He didn't get the chance to eat before the trip, so Valka and Hiccup understood that he would be hungry.

"Astrid?" Hiccup spoke while slowly approaching her. Astrid looked at him for a moment, but then looked away, keeping her face hidden from him. Now he was close enough to place a hand on the base of her neck, he did, and told her: "Astrid, you don't have to hide your face from me. I actually think you look just as beautiful as a dragon as you do as a human. It may be a different type of beauty, but you do make a gorgeous Stormcutter."

Astrid turned herself to face Hiccup, and with a claw, she wrote in the snow: _"Hiccup, I'm scared."_

"I know; I also know that you are or you were confused, and angry that this happened to you; but I promise that things will get better." He replied.

_"__What if this change is permanent? You can't be married to a dragon!"_

"Astrid, I would much rather turn myself into a dragon permanently than find a new wife. Now, on the upside of your situation, at least you weren't turned into a Gronkle or a Hideous Zippleback."

Astrid didn't have anything against Meatlug or Barf and Belch; but Gronkles were on the ugly side, with their large bodies, skinny legs, and spindly wings; and in the case of the Hideous Zippleback, she shuddered at the thought of sprouting another head. Yeah, Hiccup was right, she could've been in a worse situation. Stormcutters are a dragon that's aesthetically pleasing, more so than a lot of dragons. It calmed Astrid down a little, and she even broke into a light smile, and she mused over the though of her friends being in similar predicaments. The first thing either of the twins would do would be to cause whatever trouble they could come up with. Fishlegs would immediately classify himself and then probably take off in order to study wild dragons without his knees knocking. Snotlout's antics would depend on what dragon he'd become; if he became a Monstrous Nightmare, Skrill, or Thunderdrum, he'd fly around displaying his power; but if it were anything like a Gronkle, Deadly Nadder, or a Terrible Terror, he'd hang his head in shame. Now as for Hiccup, he would use his wings to map out the rest of the world and try to find every other type of dragon out there.

"Is that a smile I see there? What are you thinking about?" Hiccup asked.

_"__How you and our friends would act if they were in the same situation as I am."_ Astrid wrote.

A moment later, Cloudjumper returned with fish for everybody, giving the largest to Astrid. He returned his attention to Hiccup and Valka to cook their fish for them for a moment, and then settled himself besides Astrid, who was staring at her fish.

"What's wrong with it? I thought you liked salmon." Cloudjumper said.

"It's _raw_ I eat my fish cooked." Astrid replied.

"Dragons don't, now eat it please. You'll enjoy it raw for now." Cloudjumper told her.

"You two aren't arguing, are you?" Valka asked. Astrid and Cloudjumper locked eyes with her and shook their heads. When Valka returned her attention to her freshly caught breakfast, Astrid summoned up the courage to eat her raw fish, and much to her surprise, she enjoyed it!

"You need to eat more than that. I can show you how to catch your own food," Cloudjumper told her. With that, both dragons spread their wings and took off, leaving Hiccup and Valka to finish eating. The two of them turned to face the sea and watch Cloudjumper show Astrid how to catch some fish.

"I can't believe it, she's been a dragon for less than a day and already she knows how to fly, while coordinating four wings no less, and now she's fishing." Hiccup stated.

"They're amazing, that's for sure." Valka replied. They watched Astrid dive and come up with a mouth full of so much fish, that she had to land in order to eat them all safely. By the time she ate all of them, Hiccup and Valka had finished their fish and hopped on to Cloudjumper's back, with Astrid flying at his side. Now it was time to track down Toothless.

* * *

They finally tracked them down to Itchy Armpit. Toothless was perfectly happy to greet everyone, except Astrid. Both he and Sapphire were quick to put themselves between Midnightfire and their company, ready to drive away the unwelcome Stormcutter. Hiccup approached Midnightfire, still holding the stone in her mouth, and he gave her a light scratch on the chin for her to drop it. Once it fell to the ground, Hiccup picked it up and fitted it back into place in his armor before running in between Toothless and Astrid shouting: "STOP!"

The Night Furies relaxed and looked at Hiccup as he explained: "This Stormcutter is Astrid. Midnightfire got a hold of the Dragonstone last night and changed her accidentally."

"Is that still any call to attack a hatchling?" Toothless asked him with a severe look on his face.

"Midnightfire has had a hold on the stone all morning. Astrid was in a panic and wanted to get the stone from Midnightfire, but you know how irrational Vikings get when they are afraid. Now all Astrid wants is to get back to being human. Now that I have the stone, she won't attack. Do you think you can help me to change her back?" He replied.

"I'd be happy to, but there's one problem. I knew that the stone had the ability to turn humans into dragons, that's one of the reasons why I had it made for you. Since you're called the Dragon Chief, I figured that you could use the stone to turn yourself into a dragon in a time of need. Unfortunately it doesn't have the power to change the dragon back into a human until the human has spent three full days as a dragon. I'm sorry this happened to you, Astrid, but you're going to be stuck like this for a little while, but at least you know that the change isn't permanent." Toothless said.

"I'll forgive Midnightfire, and I'm sorry for scaring her this morning." Astrid told him.

"Apology accepted, and for the record, you do make for a charming Stormcutter. Are you _sure_ you want to back to being human?" Toothless asked her.

"If the next couple days prove to be enjoyable, I don't think that this will be the last time I'm in this body." She replied with a hint of humor in her voice.

"That's good to hear." Cloudjumper put in.

"Alright, so are we ready to fly back to Berk?" Hiccup asked them.

"Yeah, I think it's safe to return now." Toothless replied. Since Cloudjumper was still the only one with a saddle, Hiccup and Valka flew on his back for the trip home. It was a fairly quick and quiet trip, and it was during this part of the trek where Astrid decided to make the best of her situation and appreciate the body she was going to be in for the next couple days. She enjoyed riding Stormfly, but she very rarely considered how a dragon felt when they were flying. Now that she was flying on her own, with her own set of wings, she felt this amazing sense of freedom and power. It became so much for her that it made her roar in triumph, but at the same time, she let out a torrent of flames! Cloudjumper and Toothless laughed at her look of surprise and slight embarrassment.

Cloudjumper flew closer to Astrid and Toothless. Noticing that they were close and the altitude they were at, Hiccup decided that it was time for him to fly on his own as well. He leapt from Cloudjumper's saddle, spread his flying-squirrel wings, and the fin on his back sprang open. The little device on his back still amused Astrid. He glided beside the dragons for several minutes before he lost too much altitude, and Toothless had to catch him. The Night Fury put him back on Cloudjumper's saddle, and spent the rest of the flight flying with his family.

They landed to find that a crowd had gathered around their house. At first the people were worried, most of them were still asleep when the early morning's events occurred. To see the familiar dragons come in for a landing gave them a sense of relief… until they noted that Astrid was missing and they brought another Stormcutter.

"Hiccup, what happened here? Your house is damaged and it's a real mess in there, and where's Astrid?" Fishlegs asked. With over half the village worried about him and his family, he owed them an explanation, so he told them the truth. He got a few looks of disbelief, but when Astrid wrote: _"It's true. I'm Astrid"_ in the snow, they believed him.

"Wow, what's it like being a dragon, Astrid?" Fishlegs asked.

"Hiccup, I'd be alright telling him the answer if he could understand me." She said.

"Alright, but then it would have to wait. Mom wanted to use the stone to heal the dragons who've been injured by Drago's trappers first. I'll tell her to bring the stone to you and you can bring it to him." Hiccup replied. He explained to Fishlegs why he would have to wait for his answer as he handed the stone off to Valka.

"So what was it like for you to find that she turned into a dragon?" Fishlegs asked him.

"How would _you_ react if your wife became a dragon?" He asked back.

"I'm not to sure, I don't have one." Fishlegs replied.

"I was quite surprised, I'll say that much." Hiccup told him. The two young men turned to look at Astrid as she took to the skies again. Something told Hiccup that the next couple days won't be that bad as he watched his wife soaring happily.

"Hiccup!" Stoick and Gobber called out.

"Can I help you two?" The young Chief asked.

"We've decided on the events we want to do for our tournament." Gobber replied.

"Ah yes, I was wondering when you two would get back to me on that." Hiccup told them.

* * *

With the Quetzalcoatl under his power, Drago Bludvist and his Bewilderbeast reached the shores of Africa, where he discovered large dragons with two legs and massive wings. They didn't breathe fire, but they had these barbs on their tails that would prove to be poisonous. They were Wyverns, but with the power of his Dragonstone and his Bewilderbeast, they were quick to fall under his rule.

"Soon, we will have our revenge, and we will rule _all_ the dragons. Now, it's time to go north." Drago whispered to his Bewilderbeast.

**Before anyone bashes me for turning Astrid into a Stormcutter rather than a Deadly Nadder, I just want to say that I was trying to be unique by turning Astrid into a dragon you wouldn't have suspected her to turn into. Besides, while Astrid likes Deadly Nadders, I'm not exactly a big fan of them. They don't radiate the level of intelligence of a Stormcutter or a Strike class dragon, and Astrid is smart. I would love to hear what you guys thought about it.**


	10. Chapter 10: The Tournament

**Chapter Ten: The Tournament.**

**As Shadowdragon1317 said in the reviews: "Yay! Buddy brawl! Buddy brawl! Buddy…" Now for your moment of glory, you crazy reptile! A moment of excitement for the rest of you all out there! Heads up though there're going to be a few references to the TV series. **

That morning Hiccup donned his ceremonial uniform, and Valka dressed herself up in a long sky-blue dress and a rather luxurious white wool cape with fur lining for warmth. Astrid was still stuck as a dragon for a little while longer and was grateful that she wouldn't be forced to adorn such formal attire.

Stoick and Gobber suited up in their respective houses and met by the arena. They shook hands as a promise that no matter what happened, they would still be friends. They looked around and found the villagers crowding around the arena.

"May the best man win." Gobber told Stoick.

"Agreed." He replied.

The gate to the arena opened and the two men entered the arena to a cheering village. The men took in their cheers until Hiccup stood in front of the stone chair he was to sit on for these events, his presence quieted the audience down as he announced: "Well we've got some exciting events planned for you all today! Today, Stoick the Vast and Gobber the Belch compete for the right to have Valka's hand in marriage. Some of these events will be similar to our Thawfest festivities, but the others are tests of strength that we've overlooked. Now, for our first event: Yak Hauling!**" (Hey if Stoick can knock a Thunderdrum off its feet with a single punch, he can haul a Yak)**

Mulch struck Bucket's bucket with his hook hand and the two men hoisted their yaks onto their shoulders and charged! The event was simple; with a yak on their shoulders, they had to run the diameter of the arena. Both men were strong, they were good runners (despite the fact that Gobber was missing a foot), and they had a lot of endurance… And the winner was…

_GOBBER?!_ Hiccup and his village were impressed; sure they knew that Gobber was a fast runner, especially if he was trying to avoid a bath, but they just assumed that Stoick was _faster._

"We have a winner! Gobber takes the first event!" Hiccup called out. He and Gobber's supporters applauded for their wonderful blacksmith, and he ever earned some jeering roars from the dragons; such dragons included Hookfang and, of course, Grump. At the end of the first event, Stoick quickly shook his hand as the other Vikings set up for the next even… archery.

Due to his loss of a hand, Gobber would be unable to use a regular longbow, so he was permitted to use a crossbow, but the real test was for his aim anyway. In this event, the contenders each got six shots, and the one with the best grouping won. Gobber took his six shots, and he hit the bull's-eye a couple times, and had a fair grouping. However, not only was Stoick's grouping tighter than Gobber's, he also telescoped an arrow on the bull's-eye with his last shot! The crowd was astounded, including Gobber and Stoick himself. The crowd was so in shock that they were silent. He could've heard a pin drop! Looking up to Hiccup and Valka, he saw that both mother and son were wide-eyed and slack-jawed, as were the mature Night Furies and Stormcutters surrounding them!

"Wow, ok… um… Stoick takes archery!" Hiccup announced. He applauded his father, and so did the supporters who'd come to their senses.

The next event was wrestling. At one point, a punch Stoick threw dislodged Gobber's false tooth. However there was a reason Gobber wore his hook hand that day. He snagged Stoick's ankle with it and successfully pinned him. Thus, it was Gobber's point.

Now Hiccup thought that a log run would work to Stoick's advantage when he was competing against a peg-legged blacksmith, but who would've thought that Gobber was so nimble? Both men were able to stay on the log for long enough for Hiccup to consider calling it a tie, but then, just _somehow,_ Stoick lost his step and Gobber won again.

After these four events it was time to give the competitors a break for a little while. After all the next four events were dragon-related. Everyone went to the great hall where they had their lunch; while the dragons, including a draconic Astrid, raided the feeding stations and the sea for fish.

"I'm impressed of how well Gobber is doing." Hiccup told Valka.

"If Spitelout wasn't raking in the Thawfest medals, Gobber would've had a fair chance to be the one to bring them home. He and Stoick are actually pretty equal in their physical capabilities." She replied.

* * *

The four dragon events were the same as the Thawfest activities, plus they had to wrestle a Nadder. The Nadder wrestling seemed a little out-of-character for Berk, but Hiccup had their consent to allow two big Vikings wrestle with them. The winners of each event went as followed: Stoick, Gobber, Stoick, Stoick.

"Well this is very exciting, we have a tie!" Hiccup announced. The village was in awe. Stoick had learned a few more things about dragons during his time at the dragon sanctuary. He also had Shadowrath to thank for his skills.

"Luckily for our two competitors, I was prepared for a tie. You see, yesterday, Valka, Eret, and I went into the forest and caught a pair of wild Monstrous Nightmares. Tomorrow, the competitors will have to train and race them. Our friend, Aric, will spend the rest of the day preparing the course for you. All you have to do is take one lap of the course, the first one back to the arena wins the right to have Valka's hand." Hiccup announced.

At the end of the tournament, the two men shook hands and went over to the Haddock house for dinner. It was Hiccup's invitation, and Valka was planning on going for a long evening flight with Cloudjumper. The day's events had given her so many mixed emotions they gave her a headache almost as bad as Hiccup's first hangover.

"I admire the sportsmanship you two have shown during the events." Hiccup told Stoick and Gobber.

"We wouldn't want to lose a good friendship over a woman." Gobber replied.

"That's good to hear, if only Spitelout and Snotlout had your sportsmanship, then they'd be less of an annoyance during Thawfest." Hiccup told him. He dished out the yak steaks he prepared to his company while handing a large salmon to a draconic Astrid.

"So, how much longer are you going to be married to a dragon?" Gobber asked.

"The Dragonstone should be able to turn her back by tomorrow. How about it, Astrid, are you ready to get back to being your human self tomorrow?" Hiccup asked.

"If it means dressing up like you and your mother, then I think I can wait for one more day." Astrid replied.

"Okay, apparently being a dragon is preferable than dressing up in formal attire." Hiccup told the other two men.

"That's interesting, Valka never seemed to mind dressing up for formal occasions." Stoick stated.

"Well I'm not Valka." Astrid grumbled, but all Stoick heard was a growl of protest.

* * *

That night, Hiccup favored sleeping on a pile of furs with Astrid curled around him rather than their bed. It actually made him feel safer and therefore more relaxed, than sleeping on a bed.

"You do realize that if you're staying like this, I'm going to have you take a part in tomorrow's tie breaker with Cloudjumper and the Night Furies." Hiccup told her.

"From what I've heard from them, it sounds like fun." She replied. Within a short while, they eased into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

"Alright, who is ready for the tie-breaking event?" Hiccup announced. The crowd cheered. Hiccup raised his hand to silence them: "Remember, competitors, your tasks are to train a wild Monstrous Nightmare, and then take a lap through the course. However, one thing that I forgot to mention: the Night Furies and Stormcutters will be waiting for you, and will try to hinder you from winning. They've promised to not choose sides, at least the mature dragons… Your real threat is Midnightfire. A wild-behaving, Night Fury hatchling who listens to no one except her parents; and she shoots a really powerful plasma blast."

"I think I may need a fresh pair of skivvies when this is over." Gobber stated to himself. Stoick could barely hear him, as there was a wall separating the two of them.

"Release the dragons!" Hiccup called out before taking his seat.

The doors to the cages opened slowly, and the Nightmares rushed out of their cages. Both men waited for them to calm down before making their approach. After dinner with Hiccup they stopped by to visit Snotlout to get a few extra pointers on how to train a Monstrous Nightmare. The first approach was calmer: look at the dragon in the eye, let it approach you, and put a hand on its snout. The other approach was to bend its horns to the ground; they actually found this action calming. Stoick decided to go for the less aggressive approach, while Gobber was working to bend his dragon's horns to the ground. In effect, Stoick was the first one to train his dragon. He fit his given saddle on the beast, and took off. However, while Gobber took a bit longer, he wasn't that far behind Stoick.

Their first obstacle was to weave through giant ice stacks. Monstrous Nightmares were fairly agile for dragons their size, but their maneuverability couldn't compare to a Strike class dragon… Speaking of the Strike class dragons, where were the Night Furies? They were halfway through the ice stacks, and the only thing Stoick saw was Gobber gaining on him.

By the end of the first obstacle, Stoick and Gobber felt this great blast of wind from a Stormcutter! It was Cloudjumper… what a surprise. Since he was closer to the dragon, Stoick got the worst of the blast, and Gobber pulled ahead of him. When Stoick's dragon regained his bearings, the former Chief urged his dragon to go faster.

Luckily for Stoick, Shadowrath was the next dragon Gobber came across. He cut off Gobber's path, shaking up his Nightmare's flight pattern, and a pursuing Cloudjumper sent another thundering wing blast from behind Stoick, sending him in a wild tumble ahead of Gobber. It was a good thing that Stoick's dragon was good at regaining her bearings, this dragon held itself like a proud woman, so Stoick decided that he was riding a dragoness.

Gobber was catching up to Stoick now, and he commanded his dragon to deliver a strong wing blast to the side of Stoick's dragon. It knocked his dragon into the wall of a little maze they've just entered. Gobber gained a fair amount of ground before Stoick's dragon regained her bearings and zoomed after her opponent.

A pursuing Shadowrath pulled in front of Gobber, and cut him off again.

"Will ya pick on someone else for a while?" Gobber called out to the dragon, he was soon accompanied with Sapphire, but all they did was fly around Gobber's Nightmare and slowed him down enough for Stoick to catch up. This time, as Stoick passed him, his dragon sent Gobber a jet of flame that caught on the long braids of his moustache.

"You'll pay for that, Stoick!" Gobber exclaimed. His Nightmare caught up to Stoick's and his dragon sent Stoick a jet of flame. The other dragon saw it coming and sent Gobber a blast with her wings. It sent Gobber's dragon off to the side a few feet, and Gobber ended up covered in soot. Now Stoick was gaining quite a bit of ground, until a certain hatchling found him. She flew alongside them for a while before she discharged a blast sending shards of ice everywhere! She was soon joined with Toothless, who was simply focused on slowing Stoick down. He still remembered the sadness he'd caused the last time he gave a blast towards Stoick.

"Come on, Toothless, don't you want me to be a part of your family again?" Stoick asked. Gobber was catching up quickly, but Toothless decided that Stoick was a favorable mate for Valka. He shot a blast over to the wall of ice by Gobber, and he had to swerve in order to avoid it.

"I'm really hating this race right now." Gobber grumbled. His dragon picked up the pace, but then Midnightfire shot the beast in the tail! The dragon fell, giving Stoick plenty of ground to gain. Luckily, Gobber's dragon righted itself before crashing in the ocean. For the time being, he flew low, gaining on Stoick. Midnightfire and Toothless were also pursuing them.

Now they were out of the maze and were flying over open ocean. Gobber pushed his dragon to go as fast as it could before they entered the tunnels. To Gobber's luck, Midnightfire took his side and shot Stoick's dragon in the tail, allowing Gobber to gain on Stoick. Eventually the soot-covered blacksmith was right underneath the former Chief. Gobber urged his dragon to ascend as he raised a fist. Not only did Gobber cut off Stoick's dragon successfully, but he also delivered a good punch to the dragon's jaw. Stoick's dragon fell, and Gobber took the lead.

"I'm going to regret that pretty soon." Gobber told himself as he entered the tunnels with Stoick on his tail along with Midnightfire. The troublesome hatchling was now getting in Gobber's face.

Once Stoick caught up to Gobber, they were neck-and-neck, jets of flame were fired in attempt to cut the other one off, and at one point, Stoick managed to return the punch that Gobber gave his dragon. For the record, these Monstrous Nightmares knew that chances were that they were going to suffer a few injuries.

When they broke free of the tunnels, they now had to face _all_ of the Night Furies, Cloudjumper, and now Astrid. She was the first Stormcutter to send the men a good wing blast to shake them up pretty good. The Night Furies also took their shots for the men to dodge. Now that they were over the village, they had both Cloudjumper and Astrid shaking them up! It was a rough ride, but now the arena was in view! The men were still pretty close, but with a great stroke of her wings, Stoick's dragon pulled in front of Gobber and…

"STOICK THE VAST WINS!" Hiccup announced. The village cheered for him as Gobber entered the arena. Both men shook their hands, and now the other dragons landed. They brought fish for Stoick and Gobber to give to the Monstrous Nightmares as a job well done.

"You did well, big boy, you did well." Gobber told his Nightmare as he threw cod into the dragon's open maw.

"Great job, girl, you were amazing." Stoick told his Nightmare throwing her some salmon. He patted the dragon's snout, as Valka entered the arena. She shook Gobber's hand firmly, then she turned her attention to Stoick, and she pulled Stoick into a tight embrace.

"Good job, Gobber, you gave it your best. Congratulations, Dad, you put up one heck of a fight." Hiccup said as he entered the arena, followed by the Night Furies and Stormcutters. Even Spitelout and Snotlout came down to congratulate the men.

While Stoick and Valka were receiving their praises, the villagers dispersed, and Hiccup felt a nudge on his shoulder.

"Hiccup, once we get home, I'd like to return to my normal self again." Astrid said.

"I'll be able to help you figure out how to change her back." Toothless told them.

* * *

It had been quite the exciting day. Valka spent the rest of it with Stoick, in his new house, while Hiccup and Astrid were in their bedroom with Toothless.

"Astrid, unless you don't mind me seeing you without your outer-skins, I suggest you grab a blanket." Toothless spoke.

"They're called _'clothes', _Toothless, and you've already seen Hiccup and I mate already, so what is there to hide from you?" Astrid replied.

"Fair point. Hiccup you don't mind if she's not covered?" Toothless asked. Hiccup didn't reply. He snatched the blanket off the bed and threw it over his shoulder, and revealed the Dragonstone to Astrid in his armor as he told her: "The blanket is for in case you want it."

"Alright, now that we're all set, Astrid, touch the stone with your snout." Toothless instructed. When Astrid followed through, Toothless added: "Now just imagine yourself being human again."

Astrid pictured herself looking in the mirror and seeing a petite frame, blonde hair, and human eyes. Before they knew it, her form began to glow, and the Stormcutter was replaced with nude body of a beautiful human. Toothless smiled with satisfaction as Hiccup lifted her chin and kissed her lips. This was the first time he could kiss his wife in three days and he was going to milk this moment for all it was worth.

"I'll leave you two alone for a while." Toothless told them as Astrid started to pull off Hiccup's clothes. When the Night Fury left, Astrid threw Hiccup onto the bed. The poor, young, Chief had just barely taken off his prosthetic before he found Astrid on top of him.

**Well I hope that the 'buddy brawl' was everything you all hoped it would be… Or at least close to it. And yay, Hiccup can make love to his wife again! **


	11. Chapter 11: Trek of the Villain

**Chapter Eleven: Trek of the Villain**

While riding on the back of a Wyvern, Drago Bludvist entered the borderline of the Germanic and French areas of Europe. He was looking for certain structures. On this borderline he found a castle with a tall tower, guarded by the legendary dragons of Western Europe. They were big, four legs, massive wings, and had amazing firepower. They were normally green, red, grey, blue, or black in color, but on a rare occasion a gold one would turn up.

Drago landed the Wyvern outside the castle, and donned the helmet of a skeletal knight before making his way into the castle. He boldly, but calmly made his way to the tower where he knew the legendary dragon would be waiting for another mere knight.

Unbeknownst to Drago, he'd caught the attention of the princess living in the top of the tower. She was a fair maiden with golden hair, green eyes, and amazing alabaster-like skin. She came from a family with riches beyond a normal man's wildest dreams; and all she wanted was to be taken away from this dreadful tower, while being held in the arms of the brave soul who could defeat the terrible beast outside her tower, and live happily ever after like the princesses in the fairy tales she read.

She watched as the mysterious knight boldly approached the foul black dragon that had imprisoned her ever since she was thirteen. Now, she was nineteen, and was desperate for a taste of freedom and to see her family again. She watched as the dragon raised its massive head looking at the knight in the eye and was amazed to find that the knight didn't even flinch.

His battle with the dragon was quick and amazing in her eyes, but then she noticed that even though the dragon was out of the way, the knight wasn't coming for her. Here she was, a rich, beautiful, princess, and apparently all this knight wanted was to beat the _dragon!_ She hiked up the skirt to her gown and marched down the stairs to confront the knight.

"You have done well, Sir, now I can be yours. You will inherit great riches and a wonderful land, and I will give you my love." The princess told her knight.

"I do not wish for your hand, I only came for this dragon." Drago replied.

"But, Sir, I've waited for six long years for a valiant knight to defeat the foul dragon and rescue me." The princess told him.

"I have no use for a princess or her kingdom." He told her. She was greatly offended now. She reached out to grab him as he turned away, her temper burning like a dragon's fire, and her hand planted on the fascinating gemstone embedded in his chest plate. The stone discharged its magic into the princess, and she found herself convulsing on the ground as golden scales overtook her beautiful skin. Bit by bit, she was turned into a golden dragon with touches of pink mixed in. When she came to her senses, and figured out what happened to her, she was utterly repulsed by the form she was in. However the knight threw his helmet aside, revealing his horribly sinister face as he laughed.

"_Now_ I have a use for you, Princess, you better come with me, because from the looks of it, your people don't take too kindly to dragons." He declared, spitting at her title. She forced herself to follow him, after all he was now her best chance for survival, her people really didn't take too kindly to dragons.

* * *

"Hiccup, there is something important that I've neglected to tell you." Stoick stated.

"How important is it?" Hiccup asked.

"It's about Drago Bludvist. He will be returning to Berk." Stoick replied. Hiccup's eyes went wide. He had hoped that he and Toothless drove him away from Berk for good.

"How long have you known and why have you neglected to tell me this now?" He asked.

"I've neglected to tell you before because when I returned I'd taken a vow of silence. When I broke my silence, I had to let you adjust that your father had returned, and after that I've been too focused on winning Valka back, I didn't think to bring it up until now."

Hiccup stepped outside for a moment and returned with Eret. He might have some input on this.

"Is there something I can do for you, Chief?" He asked while entering the house with Skullcrusher. While the Rumblehorn was happy to have Stoick back, he was bonded with Eret and Stoick had a Night Fury anyway.

"Drago's coming back." Hiccup replied bluntly. He looked over to Toothless and found him shuddering at the thought of Drago's return.

"He's also hunting down a Dragonstone of his own, or so the gods told me." Stoick added.

"If Drago is returning, and with a similar gem as the one Toothless made, he'll be bringing dragons that you've never seen before. There are dragons all over the world, some of them will be tough to fight." Eret replied.

"I've faced a Red Death, Screaming Death, and Toothless beat Drago's Bewilderbeast. I think we can take on any type of dragon we come across one-on-one, I'm worried that we may need more dragons and what Drago knows about the Dragonstone." Hiccup replied.

"Drago will be building a greater army than before. I recommend getting recruits yourself. What is this _'Screaming Death'_ you mentioned? I've never heard of one of them before." Eret told him.

"The Screaming Death is a large white dragon that is a subspecies of the Whispering Death. It's huge, its screams disorient the dragons, and it can command the Whispering Deaths." He replied.

"If I were you, I'd track that beast down and train it if that's possible." Eret stated.

"Well, I've got a few riders who'd be honored to train it." Hiccup told him.

"Hiccup, I believe it's time to call for a meeting in the Great Hall." Stoick spoke.

* * *

The village was gathered in the Great hall. Hiccup stood before them and had just announced the problem at hand. Everyone remembered Drago, and the terror he wrought. Now he was coming back more powerful than before. Everyone murmured among themselves for a moment.

"I fear that we may not be strong enough to stand up against Drago on our own this time. Luckily for us, we have Toothless and Aric to keep our dragons from falling under Drago's control this time, but we're not certain as to what Dago is coming back with. So I've got some assignments for you." Hiccup announced. He held up a piece of parchment and declared: "First up: Spitelout, I need you and a crew of your choosing to go to Outcast Island and give Alvin the Treacherous our request for assistance in this coming attack. Now: Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Helga the Mace Menace, and Snotlout, you are going to love this one, I need you to track down the Screaming Death, train it, and bring it back to Berk with Whispering Deaths."

"AWESOME!" The twins and Snotlout cheered. Tuffnut and Ruffnut ran up to their Chief and kissed his boot and false leg while Snotlout and Helga shook his hand in gratitude.

"Now, Valka, you and Cloudjumper will be in charge of practicing drills with the dragons and their riders; Stoick, I want you to train the ground fighters and help build up our artillery. Astrid, I leave you as acting Chief. I'll be taking Toothless, Sapphire, and Fishlegs in hopes to recruit more Night Furies and other dragons."

"You have my permission to take Shadowrath too." Stoick told Hiccup.

Not long after that, Hiccup quickly ate and prepared to leave.

"If it will help, I can have the dragons create another stone." Toothless stated.

"Who would you give it to?" Hiccup asked.

"Aric, he would use its power to protect all of us, and he could use it to help turn Drago's army against him; and like you, he would use it to heal the dragons who'll be injured in this battle." Toothless replied.

"I think that would be a good idea; but it would have to wait until we get back. Are you ready to fly?"

"I am."

"Alright, let's go get Fishlegs." Hiccup replied. No sooner than he opened the door, he found said rider outside his door with Meatlug at his side ready to go.

"Oh, come on not a _Gronkle!_" Sapphire complained. Yeah she doesn't like them.

"What did I ever do to you?" Meatlug asked her.

"Uh, hey, Fishlegs… I hate to break it to Meatlug, but I was hoping that you would be willing to ride one of the Night Furies. See, Sapphire has this disliking for Gronkles, I don't know why; and wild Night Furies may not be welcoming to Meatlug." Hiccup said.

"They won't." Shadowrath told him.

"Umm, okay, would it be alright if I rode Sapphire? She doesn't look like she wants to break any speed records." Fishlegs told Hiccup. Hiccup nodded to him and fitted one of Toothless' spare saddles on Sapphire. After Fishlegs said goodbye to Meatlug; he, Hiccup, and all Night Furies took flight.

During his stay in Europe, Drago had collected more of the magnificent European dragons and he crossed the North Sea into Norway. There he discovered a massive red beast with six eyes.

"Ah, you will be a magnificent addition to my collection." Drago stated. This dragon, and its nest put up a good resistance, but this scarlet Red Death was able to succumb to the control of Drago's Bewilderbeast after seven hours of fighting.

**This concludes chapter eleven. The next chapter will have a greater focus on Hiccup's friends rather than his family. What did you guys think of the poor princess at the beginning, and who thinks that some of the people of Berk are going to be in need of a shipment of underpants?**


	12. Chapter 12: Recruits

**Chapter Twelve: Recruits**

**Twelfth chapter ladies and gentlemen… and dragons. I've got a nice, shiny, new cover, FUN! Yes I drew that dragon myself. It's not a dragon in this story; it's just a cool dragon that I made up for an original work. I hope you like it as much as I hope you like this story.**

"Spitelout! To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Alvin the Treacherous greeted.

"We'll be in need of some of your assistance, Alvin, our greatest foe will be returning to Berk stronger than before." Spitelout replied.

"Is this that same guy who killed Stoick?" Alvin asked him.

"Technically, yes, but it turns out that the gods spared Stoick. He spent some time on our island as Stav the Silent before he broke his silence at his son's wedding and we discovered who he was." He replied.

"Well now, this is great news! Stoick the Vast is alive! Is the Hiccup runt still the Chief?"

"I would prefer that you use more respective terms towards my Chief and nephew; and he may be scrawny compared to us, but I wouldn't call him a runt anymore."

"Of course, and it just so happens that we're hungry for a good battle. Ever since some Berserker girl turned against that troublesome brat, Dagur, and claimed the position as their Chief, things have been pretty quiet in the Archipelago." Alvin stated.

"We would be very grateful for your assistance." Spitelout replied.

"Now, if this Drago Bludvist is as bad as I take him to be…"

"Much worse than you and Dagur have ever been when you were our enemy." Spitelout interjected

"Then I risk the lives of my people and myself. What would we get in return for this favor?" Alvin asked.

"We've brought you a ship of livestock, fish, and seeds, and I'm sure that if and when we win, the Dragon Chief would repay you handsomely. Perhaps he'll give you a trained dragon for your personal use; or something more powerful than a Changewing, Scauldron, or a Whispering Death. Although I can't really speak on his behalf, he will repay you graciously, I'm sure of that." Spitelout replied.

"We have a deal then. Now, follow me, I'm sure that you and your crew are getting hungry. We'll feast in honor of Stoick's return and for a taste of merriment before we begin training. Would the Dragon Chief like for us to bring our dragons too?"

"He wants all the help he can get. I'll bet my helmet that if you bring your dragons, he'll show you how to ride them." Spitelout replied.

* * *

"Here Screaming Death, come on out, Screaming Death!" Tuffnut called out.

"Hey, muttonhead, do you really think the Screaming Death is going to listen to you?" Snotlout called out.

"It's better than doing what you are, Snotlout. Keep in mind, you blundering troll, I've got my mace on me!" Helga snapped.

"Oh Screaming Death, we've got some tasty fish for you!" Ruffnut called out. It was true, everyone on this mission absolutely reeked of the fish strapped to them.

"Oh, c'mon, you're doing it too Ruffnut?" Snotlout called out. Now Barf lowered his head and Helga punched him in the head. She didn't like anybody giving either Ruffnut or Tuffnut grief, and those who did were going to get hurt. Again, the twins called out to the Screaming Death once more. Snotlout rolled his eyes, but then a thunderous roar sounded from below them. The riders looked down and found the colossal white dragon ascending towards them; and to their luck there was an island below them too.

"He's magnificent! He's beautiful!" Helga gasped and she was the first one to start feeding the Screaming Death. Snotlout let out a rather feminine shriek before discarding his fish.

The riders flew to the island, to be pronounced the Isle of Whispers sometime later, and they lured the Screaming Death to the ground. When the great white beast landed it held a soft expression towards the riders. Helga took another fish and threw it to the great creature.

"I'm making the bond with this one!" She declared. She hopped off Barf's neck and relieved Ruffnut of her full basket of fish before turning her attention to the Screaming Death. The great white dragon waited calmly for his food. Helga smiled when his bright red eyes locked with her. As she tossed him handfuls of fish, she spoke to it: "Hello, big boy, you're a mighty handsome dragon. In fact, I think you're beautiful. You must be very powerful too if you reign over the Whispering Deaths. We need your help, fellow, a man who'd want to hurt you and your family will attack our home soon. Will you and your Whispering Death's help us?"

Helga extended her arm and looked away from the Screaming Death. It took a few moments, but the white dragon calmly pressed his nose into her hand, sealing the bond.

"You are amazing." Helga stated as she stroked the dragon's head. A few moment later, a group of Whispering Deaths appeared. Now it was time for the riders to lead their new allies back to Berk

"Wow, Helga, you really did it. You must be manlier than Tuffnut if you can train a Screaming Death!" Snotlout called out to Helga, earning another punch to the head.

"My Tuffie is still a lot manlier than _YOU,_ Snotlout!" She snapped.

When they eventually reached Berk with their gigantic ally, the people were nervous, which was understandable after the destruction the Screaming Death had caused in the past. However, once Helga displayed how gentle the beast could be, they settled down.

* * *

This is it! This was the moment Fishlegs had been waiting _years_ for! He was going to be one of the first Vikings to see the natural habitat of the Night Furies. They swooped in for a landing, and what a magnificent sight it was! Within their field of vision they saw at least one hundred of them! Hiccup was almost in tears at the sight of them, Fishlegs actually was.

When they landed, Shadowrath let out a fierce roar to announce his presence. Night Furies looked over to him and swarmed him. Hiccup heard a mix of their voices, and couldn't pick out any individuals, but he could tell that they were praising Shadowrath's and Sapphire's return, asking where they've been, acknowledging that Sapphire had a hatchling now, and they were curious over Toothless and the riders.

"Enough now!" Shadowrath exclaimed. The other Night Furies silenced. After a pause, Shadowrath told them: "My family and I have been well." He explained what happened between him, Stoick, and the events on Berk while introducing Hiccup and Fishlegs to them. Thanks to the Dragonstone, Hiccup was able to translate everything for Fishlegs. Then Shadowrath brought up the problem at hand: "The new friends and additions to my family are under threat. A dangerous human will be arriving at Berk in some time. They need all the help they can get or good dragons will suffer. Their leader, Toothless here, has had a hand in vanquishing this foe before, so the fact he's coming to us for assistance shows just how great of a threat this foe is. Now, his home is safe for humans and dragons alike. There will be plenty of food there for all of us, and the humans will tend whatever injuries you may or have suffered. If you join his nest, you will be rewarded. If you don't come, you risk falling into this foe's power."

"We will come!" Another Night Fury called out, and more dragons cheered in agreement.

The humans dismounted and noted the habitat. It was lush and green, with bushes that grew tasty berries for the riders to eat. However there were a lot of hills and cliffs that fell into rivers, so it was no wonder that the Night Furies relied of their wings and tails so much. Fishlegs and Hiccup actually found it a bit hard to navigate through this island; but once they reached a high point, the two riders took the time to map the place out.

"This place is rather beautiful. It's hard to get around, but this place is amazing." Fishlegs stated.

"Yes, it is, I'll definitely come back here." Hiccup replied.

The riders spent the night there. The night was beautiful, and the Aurora Borealis shimmered across the sky. It was easy for them to have a good night's sleep on this night.

* * *

The next day Hiccup and Fishlegs returned to Berk with the other Night Furies in tow. The villagers were in awe over the beautiful dragons, but unfortunately for them, they were a bit shy to approach humans, so they hung out in the forests most of the time, but whenever a hunter entered the forest to catch a boar, they were sure to bring some fish for the Night Furies they'd come across.

Alvin and his Outcasts arrived a few days later, greeting Stoick with a hearty handshake and presenting him an axe for being alive. In his tow, Alvin brought his tamed Changewings and Scauldrons; the Whispering Deaths would've tunneled out of the ships.

"Welcome back to Berk, Alvin, there is some dried meat with cheese and bread laid out in the Great Hall and our arena is open for ground training right now. If you would care to try aerial training, then I'll show you to our dragon stables where you will meet my mother. I believe she set aside a Timberjack for you and she's put some Zipplebacks and Deadly Nadders for your men, should they wish to start training on them." Hiccup replied.

"Sound good, Chief." Alvin replied. So the two Chiefs headed for the sables.

**Ok, it's the return of Alvin the Treacherous, the Screaming Death, we've got another Red Death coming, and now we've found the population of Night Furies, cool huh? Now I'm going to take a little break from this story for a little while. I'll update again on Tuesday or Wednesday. I want to focus on my original works for a while. However, I will check in on this story each day. I hope you Americans out there had a good 4th of July and those of you in other countries, I hope that whatever festivities you've recently had or will soon be having were/will be enjoyable. **


	13. Chapter 13: Training

**Chapter Thirteen: Training**

In the days to pass, training for Drago Bludvist's arrival had become a staple of the everyday lifestyle for the people of Berk and their Outcast visitors. By now, Alvin and his Timberjack, named Blade, had become experts in the art of slicing through targets as small as a fish. They'd become so compatible with each other that they became great dragon racers too. Alvin had also taught Blade a little trick that involved lighting arrows on fire after he loosed them from his bow.

Aric had also done a fine job fortifying the island with a wall of ice with a hidden network of tunnels for Berk's dragons to pass through and sneak up on or away from their opponents. This fortification was also strong enough to keep a Bewilderbeast from smashing through it. It would eventually melt down, and there was a hidden door for Aric and Brünhild to get through should they need to get out of there.

The new Night Fury recruits had eased up around the humans after several days' worth of exposure to them. The fact that there were also respectful Night Furies putting their trust in humans, as well as the Skrills on the island, helped them to build up that trust more quickly; and this allowed Toothless to start training them. Pretty soon, he had them flying in formations, and we're not talking about mere 'V' formations, we're talking formations of three-dimensional shapes. Whether or not these formations would be used in battle was uncertain, but it showed how great of a commanding officer and alpha Toothless was.

During this time they'd also established a network of scouting dragons and Aric had set up an ice barrier to slow down the opposing Bewilderbeast. This network, plus the barrier, would alert Berk of Drago's approach within the week it would take him to reach Berk. That way the villagers and dragons had plenty of time to prepare for the attack.

Then came a rare quiet day for the people of Berk now. On this day, the villagers and Outcasts were taking it slow in order to get some rest and build up the strength they or their dragons had lost during their training. The day before, Hiccup had been practicing his fencing with his father and Alvin with a Gronkle iron sword, and he was suffering from a headache he only experienced when he was suffering a hangover, and his stump ached from leaning on his prosthetic for so long. Yet, he still found the energy to take Toothless for a ride.

To his surprise, he found the Night fury rounding up dragons and prepared to make another Dragonstone, this one for Aric.

Like the last time, the dragons flew in a circle, pair by pair they breathed their fire and took their shots, and they flew at the top speed of their slowest dragon. When Toothless was satisfied, he finished by taking his shot, and dove into the resulting explosion. He returned to the ground with another rock in his claws and had a Gronkle split it to reveal the new Dragonstone. It was identical to the first one but slightly larger this time. Unbeknownst to both humans and dragons, Midnightfire was intrigued by this; she gathered the other hatchlings, including Brünhild, and went off to a beach to do the same thing.

Toothless gave the stone to Hiccup and told him: "I need you to make something to secure this stone to Aric's tusk or one of the protrusions on his head."

"Alright, Toothless, that should be an easy task." Hiccup replied. He took the stone to the smithy and began working on a Gronkle iron ring that would fit on one of the protrusions of Aric's head. He was only in there for a couple hours before he brought out the finished piece.

Toothless took a good look at the ring before allowing Hiccup to climb onto his saddle and fly over to Aric's head. He fitted the ring on one of the protrusions and the duo headed back to land where Sapphire met up with them asking: "Where's Midnightfire I can't find her anywhere?"

"I thought you were looking after her right now." Toothless replied. Forgetting that Hiccup was still in the saddle, both dragons took off at screaming speeds, and which had Hiccup on the verge of screaming himself.

They circled around the island when they found a cluster of hatchlings watching a flying disk of fire made by more hatchlings, including Brünhild. They landed just in time to watch Midnightfire take her shot and snatch the resulting rock as the other hatchlings dispersed. Midnightfire brought the rock over to her wide-eyed parents and allowed a Hotburple hatchling to break the rock open to reveal a Dragonstone inside. Unlike the ones Toothless had created, this one was more scarlet than the blue-violet that Toothless' Dragonstones were predominantly colored.

"How did you manage to do this?" Sapphire asked Midnightfire.

"Easy, we just did what our parents did." She replied.

"I see, and just what do you plan on doing with this stone now that you have it?" Sapphire asked her.

"Uncle Hiccup can make me a piece of armor to keep it in."

Hiccup was taken aback by what the young Night Fury just called him. She saw him as her Uncle! To explain, Toothless told Hiccup: "She must've overheard me when I've said to Sapphire that you're my brother-in-arms."

"In that case, I'd be happy to make you a piece of armor to house your Dragonstone, Midnightfire, but on one condition…" Hiccup said.

"What condition is that?" Midnightfire asked.

"That during and after the upcoming battle with Drago Bludvist, you share your stone with the people and dragons of Berk. They will need healing and strength during and after the battle. I need you to take care of them. I'm sure that either of your parents and Shadowrath would be more than willing to watch your back while you're looking out for your fellow dragons." Hiccup told her.

"Deal, now can you make me something cool like a gauntlet for this thing?" She replied.

"I'll need the stone first." Hiccup said. Midnightfire handed him the stone and he took Toothless back to the Smithy to create the gauntlet. He had that thing finished by nightfall, and Midnightfire loved it! She actually flew around the island to show it off, but the other dragons were simply impressed to find out that she had the leadership skills in order to make the Dragonstone set inside it.

* * *

"Toothless, will you stop pacing? You're putting me on edge." Astrid said. She wasn't the only one in the Haddock household to've been put on edge. Even Stormfly was getting a little uneasy about his behavior; but Astrid's complaint fell on deaf ears, so Hiccup stepped in front of him and asked: "Bud, what's going on?"

"I think I have a good plan for attack and defense, but I'm facing an indecision that has me torn up inside." He replied.

"What decision is that?" Hiccup asked.

"Whether I should tell it to you and have you translate it to your people or use a Dragonstone to turn human. The letter choice would be nice because humans and dragons would understand me, but what if we receive the alert of Drago's approach on that day? If that happens then the Dragonstone that turns me won't be able to make another emergency transformation when Drago arrives, and its powers would be weakened until two days after the fight!" Toothless replied.

"We can send Aric out to fortify the barrier then and create more. If you got a plan for attack and defense then the village needs to hear it. I say go for it." Hiccup told him.

"You can use my stone, Daddy." Midnightfire spoke.

"Think that you can give me the zap of transformation?" Toothless asked her. Midnightfire looked over to Hiccup and Astrid and told them: "You may want to retreat to the staircase or things might spell trouble."

After Hiccup took Astrid to the staircase, Midnightfire stood against the wall with the staircase, facing towards the other side of the room where Toothless sat at its center, and he was facing his daughter. The other two dragons in the home retreated outdoors; and while Toothless was holding a brave face, he was inwardly nervous; recalling the time Hiccup healed his tail, and what an agonizing experience that was, he couldn't help but wonder if the transformation would hurt too.

Midnightfire sat back on her hind legs and raised her gauntlet; with her other arm, she curled in her claws, and gave her stone a good whack. The stone discharged a bolt of magic, hit Toothless, he was swept off the ground with a shriek, and he collided into the wall!

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup exclaimed. He and Astrid leapt from their positions on the stairs and rushed over to Toothless' aid. What they found was a great black shroud which, when unveiled, revealed a fair-skinned human with a winter complexion, very lean, and with a head topped with wild black hair that went past his shoulders. His face was slightly angular and actually comparable with the level of charming-ness that Hiccup's had; and underneath closed lids, his eyes were sure to be bright green.

Midnightfire was perched on her father's leg, still hidden underneath the fabric of his shroud, and she looked at him with a panicked expression. Stormfly and Sapphire also came in looking down at the new human with worried looks on their faces.

"He's alright, he's just passed-out or something. The change might've gone too quickly for him and he passed out. I also remembered waking up feeling rather exhausted when Midnightfire turned me into a Stormcutter, so it is possible that the change took too much energy from him." Astrid stated.

"Well, at least he's not hurt then. Now, since my mother moved back in with my dad, how about we put him on her old bed until he wakes up?" Hiccup replied. He and Astrid hoisted the unconscious Toothless onto their shoulders and laid him on the said bed. No sooner had they dropped a blanket of fur on him, did Midnightfire hop onto the bed and curled up against her father.

"You watch out over him, alright young one?" Hiccup told her as he rubbed her neck… And speaking of necks…

"Hiccup, look at this! There's a tattoo on his neck." Astrid exclaimed in a whisper. She was pointing at an ink-black dragon silhouette imprinted on the side of his neck.

"Tell Astrid that she had one too when she was a Stormcutter, only hers was on the underside of her tailfin." Midnightfire told Hiccup. He relayed the information to Astrid and the couple deduced that it was simply a factor that occurred during the transformation.

"Well, we better let him rest now. I doubt that he'll wake up before morning." Hiccup told Astrid, so the couple went to bed.

* * *

He and Astrid woke up to the sound of someone humming below them. They hopped out of their bed and rushed to the floor below and found Toothless sitting up and vocalizing to get accustomed to how the human voice worked. He was practicing different sounds when he spotted the human couple watching him. His bright green eyes met with theirs and he gave them an awkward smile.

"Good morning, Toothless. How are you feeling?" Astrid greeted.

"A-a little oot o' sorts, heaad feelin' like it was sstruck by SSkrill; and sstomaaach empty." He replied it wasn't that he had a stutter, he was still getting used to working with human speech.

"Alright, I'll cook you a nice big fish." Hiccup told him. He was quick to cook it, thanks to the heat of Stromfly's fire. He set the fish on a dish and handed the dish to Toothless with a fork.

"Human skin is a lot more sensitive to heat than dragon skin, so don't touch the fish with your bare hands and watch out for bones." Hiccup told him. Toothless nodded and proceeded to enjoy his breakfast while Astrid went out to grab one of Hiccup's spare outfits for Toothless to wear later. It wasn't that whatever it was that he was wearing was bad or anything, it was just that it was impractical and had the risk of snagging.

"Thanks for sharing your fish." Toothless stated.

"You're welcome. Now Astrid brought down some clothes for you if you want to put them on before you go to the great hall… actually, now that I think about it, the center of town might be better. I want the Screaming Death and Aric to hear what you have to say." Hiccup replied.

"I wish to keep wearing this, it feels nice." Toothless replied.

"Alright, now lets round them up." Hiccup told him.

* * *

With everyone on Berk gathered with the dragons in the same spot, it took a moment for both alphas to take in just how much the population of Berk had really grown within the past few weeks. Hiccup took in a deep breath and told the crowd: "Alright, everyone, for those of you who cannot tell, this man in the black robes is Toothless as a human, and he has a plan for attack and defense when Drago comes, and I'm going to let him tell it to you all."

Toothless stepped forward and announced: "Alright, as Hiccup told you, I am Toothless, and this is how I want our defenses to be set up: To start, I want our ground fighters to be stationed with the Whispering Deaths in their tunnels, and kept out of sight until you hear footsteps above your heads only then do the Whispering Deaths tunnel to the surface and attack and allowing the ground fighters to surface and attack. I don't really want the dragons under Drago's power to be killed, but we do need them restrained or trapped. Thankfully, to the artillery you all have now, we're able to shoot traps rather than weapons… just remain careful with the bolas. When a dragon is downed I want them hauled out of the way, preferably in the tunnels to a spot where it would be hard to navigate to the surface. Now, Screaming Death, when Drago arrives your job is to tunnel under the ocean and emerge behind the enemy Bewilderbeast. Use you scream to disorient his alpha, the less control Drago has over his army, the better it is for the rest of us. As for you spines, I want you to use them sparingly, we have a surplus of Deadly Nadders and Whispering Deaths now, so you don't need to be wasting yours."

The Screaming Death nodded, and so did the Whispering Deaths.

"Aric, because you have Brünhild to take care of now, I don't want you to engage Drago's Bewilderbeast again. However, I do need you to maintain our fortifications and try and snap opposing dragons out of their trance. If you must fight then I simply beg you to remain out of the fight with the other Bewilderbeast. The only exception I will give you is if Drago has neglected to replace the missing tusk."

Aric nodded as Toothless went on saying: "Dragon riders and solo dragons, with the exception of Strike classes, Tidal classes, and hatchlings, I want you stationed in the forest, out of sight. I want this attack to me a surprise, and you must wait until you find dragons flying over the land before you take off and attack. Aim for dragons that didn't see you coming up when you take action. As for the Tidal class dragons, your position is in the water. Thunderdrums, your job is to help the Screaming Death disorient the opposing Bewilderbeast or any other large dragon that Drago might bring. Scauldrons, I need you to patrol the waters and make sure that no sea-dwelling dragons Drago might have and give them a light dose of your venom. Remember, I don't want those dragons dead, I just want them put out of commission. If by some chance Drago has rather few, or no sea-dwelling dragons, I want you in the skies as solo dragons. As for Night Furies and Skrills, we'll be more focused on driving the other Bewilderbeast away along with any other large dragon Drago may've captured. You will be stationed inside the tunnels Aric had constructed and will strike at Sapphire's command, as Shadowrath and I will be in the forest as rider dragons. The two of us will be guarding Midnightfire, who will provide aid to wounded dragons during the fight. As for the hatchlings, I want them in a cave on the far side of the island for their safety. Now, when it comes to Drago Bludvist himself, the prize of his head belongs to my family. We will deal with him ourselves. Now, is there anyone who object to this plan?"

Not a word came from the villagers.

"Good then let's resume our training." Toothless announced.

* * *

Over the next few days, their training intensified. Ground fighters focused on how to trap a dragon, tie it up to a Whispering Death, and drag it back to the depths of the tunnels. Dragon riders focused on complex aerial attacks and formations. Everyone also worked on their endurance exercises, including hauling sheep, or yaks in some cases, around the island at a running pace. As a result, they ate heartily, but some waistlines were going down. At the same time, Toothless had a couple interesting days as a human, spending a lot of his time conversing with humans, Fishlegs for one, and giving criticisms to those who could use some help in their tactics. His enjoyment of conversation though, led him to spend an extra day as a human before turning back into a dragon; and when he returned to his draconic form, he was sure that Drago would regret that he chose to mess with Berk again. Yes, they were all ready for him now.

**The UnknownBlackHand is back! I hope that you guys are excited for the next chapter, because it begins my EPIC CLIMAX! Caution: Climax may be too awesome for you to handle.**


	14. Chapter 14: Thunderdrums of War

**Chapter 14: Thunderdrums of War**

**Hold on to your heads! Epic-ness follows!**

Two more weeks have gone by and the devastating winter of Berk was just about gone now, despite the appearances of an imposing and dense cloud-cover. At least that was how it looked as far as Drago Bludvist could tell while he led his dragon army closer to the island. He was unaware of the scout that had spotted him and the network had alerted Berk of his approach a week earlier.

While he wasn't aware that Berk knew he was going to attack, he was well aware of the fortification made of ice. Was it the clever work of the villagers, or did they find another Bewilderbeast? He knew that it had to be one of the two, and he knew that the sharp projectiles made by the ice would cause too much harm to his Bewilderbeast if they crashed through it, and blasting it to bits was out of the question, it was simply too massive. So, he called over to the golden dragon he found in Europe and rode her over the fortification. Once a princess, the golden dragon was now brainwashed into thinking that she's been born as a dragon due to the trance the Bewilderbeast put her in. She landed in the middle of the seemingly deserted village, Drago dismounted with his trusty billhook in hand, and the golden dragon took flight.

Drago signaled his Bewilderbeast to order the Wyverns and the Monstrous Nightmares down. When they landed, they proceeded to wander about the village in search of the inhabitants and begin to destroy the village by tearing the wood off of the houses.

However right underneath the village, the Whispering Deaths heard the footsteps of the intruding dragons. It was time to attack! Being led by Alvin, the ground fighters took the tails of the Whispering Deaths and were dragged to the surface with chain nets and bolas in tow! They made quick work of some of Drago's Wyverns and Nightmares, quickly tying them up and using the Whispering Deaths to drag them underground, while the ground fighters pulled out their artillery and weapons to engage the other dragons.

With another call, Drago sent the rest of his flying dragons over the island to scout the island and sea, but the problem was that there was a dense forest on the island, and with the trees already sprouting their leaves, and all of the evergreens on the island, it was hard to see the dragons in the forest. However, that didn't keep the dragons in the forest from seeing them

"Ok, it's our turn now! To the skies!" Hiccup called out, and the dragons took flight in masses, firing at the unwelcome dragons, dispersing them, trapping them, and holding them underground as they were being guarded by more Whispering Deaths.

Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Helga took to defending Berk from the ground after dragging down several Deadly Nadders, a Monstrous Nightmare, and one of the exotic Feathered Serpents Drago collected from South America.

"Ooo, the feathered ones are soft!" Helga announced as she brushed her fingers over the scales of the Quetzalcoatl they caught after it tried constricting one of Berk's Nadders.

Astrid, Fishlegs, and Snotlout were working as a team to remove more Wyverns and the Western European dragons.

"Fishlegs, can you break these guys down for us?" Astrid asked as Stormfly took a warning shot at some incoming dragons.

"The ones with two legs are Wyverns. They're members of the Sharp class, sharp barb on their tail delivers poison, so stay clear of it! The larger dragons- AHH!" Fishlegs was interrupted by a shot from one of the European dragons.

"What's the matter, Fishlegs, dragon got your tongue?" Snotlout taunted.

"As I was saying: the larger dragons are legendary natives of Western Europe, known as Guardians. They're known for protecting castles as well as their homes, very territorial too, Stoker class, with firepower more extreme than a Monstrous Nightmare, and sharp arrow on tail can also be used as a weapon." Fishlegs finished.

"Ha, no dragon has more firepower that Hookfang! Hookfang, FLAMES!" Snotlout shouted. Hookfang ignited himself.

"What did Fishlegs just tell you? MUTTONHEAD!" Astrid shouted as Snotlout and Hookfang ascended to engage combat with a black Guardian. In response to Snotlout's attack, the Guardian dove after the trio spewing a jet of flame that they thought could only be produced by something like a Typhoomerang… NO! A Red Death! As the Guardian dove, still spewing its fire, the flames gathered within the wings.

"RETREAT!" Astrid shouted as the Guardian leveled off and blasted its wings full of fire at the trio! Fishlegs and Meatlug were fleeing as fast as they could, with Fishlegs screaming at the top of his lungs in a rather non-masculine high pitch.

"Fishlegs, you're such a coward! You shouldn't even be in this fight if you're worried about getting your beard scorched!" Snotlout called out. This struck a nerve with Fishlegs as Astrid chewed him out for recklessly engaging the Guardian and making it chase after them. It was Fishlegs who was the one to jump into a Whispering Death tunnel the first time they encountered the dragon, granted it was Snotlout who shoved him in there after Hiccup, but he didn't scramble his way out of it right way, and it was Fishlegs who once ended up _inside_ the mouth of the Screaming Death while luring it to Outcast Island with a dragon root. As he was thinking about all his courageous acts, the trio was unaware that they've flown over the fortification.

Drago spotted the trio, and also saw that the twins and Helga soon joined them to pursue more dragons. The sinister man decided that now was time to unleash his secret weapon. He whirled his billhook over his head and roared! His single-tusk Bewilderbeast ordered a certain monster of a dragon to surface.

Fishlegs, and from higher altitudes, Hiccup and Toothless noticed the disturbance in the water as something began to emerge.

To Snotlout's horror, he and Hookfang came face-to-face with the great Red Death. They took one look at the colossal dragon's six eyes, turned-tail, and fled screaming at the top of _their_ lungs. Astrid retreated from the scene and pursued another dragon. However, Fishlegs stood his ground and pulled out his hammer, urging Meatlug to fly towards the Red Death, as he struck every dragon that got in his way, and he screamed into the wind carrying the sound of the Screaming Death's call!

Even way underneath the ocean, the Screaming Death heard Fishlegs' call and shot though the ground, through the water, and into the sky letting out its trademark _shriek_!

"What the hell is _that_ thing?" Drago asked himself as he spotted the titanium-white dragon with red eyes. He roared to his Bewilderbeast, ordering to try and take over the Screaming Death and get it under _his_ control.

Toothless and Hiccup spotted this and he sent Stoick in to distract the Bewilderbeast. By now, it was working to control the Screaming Death, and nearly succeeding; but Stoick and Shadowrath came in at the right moment, and broke off the Bewilderbeast's concentration with a plasma blast, and freeing the Screaming Death.

Back to Fishlegs, he waited for the Red Death to open its great maw and prepare to fire. When it did, he had Meatlug fire her lava into the great maw of the beast and light its gas on fire! The Red Death's gas caught fire, and ducked its head under the water to put the flames out.

"Fishlegs, that was _amazing!_" Hiccup called to him from above. Fishlegs smiled and moved out of there. As he passed a wide-eyed, slack-jawed Snotlout, he asked him: "Am I a coward _now_, Snotlout?"

Toothless let out a great roar and now it was time for the Strike and Tidal class dragons to make their move! Skrills and Night Furies erupted from the fortification of ice and began their attack! Thunderdrums also surfaced and joined the Screaming Death in its task of disorienting the Red Death and the opposing Bewilderbeast.

Fishlegs also made his Terrible Terror call, summoning a pack of forty Terrible Terrors, and he sent them over to the Red Death, as the Bewilderbeast was busy being attacked by Strike class dragons.

It turned out that sending a large pack of Terrible Terrors over to a Red Death's face wasn't all that good of an idea as was anticipated. Now in pain and _furious_, the Red Death roared and let out an immense torrent of flames, desolating the buildings of Berk, wounding tens of dragons (Night Furies included), and delivering severe burns to the Vikings who were unfortunate enough to get scorched.

The people of Berk were distraught, the only building that didn't catch fire was the Great Hall, and the amount of wounded was high now. Midnightfire sought the cover of Cloudjumper and Valka as she fired her shots boosted with healing power to help the wounded dragons she spotted.

That was also the time Aric decided to surface, and he saved whatever buildings he could by putting out the flames with his icy breath.

Drago was shocked, he clearly recalled his Bewilderbeast killing Aric. Surely, this couldn't be the same one, right? He was about to send his Bewilderbeast to attack Aric, when he heard the distinct screeching of a Night Fury. Looking up, he recognized the dragon and its rider, and Drago's Bewilderbeast didn't need a command to breathe his ice on Toothless.

The ice caught on Toothless' tail and it sent him to the ground like a rock! He collided into the side of one of the ice protrusions Aric made, and the two flew in different directions. Toothless landed in a safe area, blasted the ice off his tail, and found Midnightfire being chased by one of the Wyverns! His parental instincts kicked in and he took off to protect her, leaving Hiccup behind!

Unfortunately, Hiccup rolled to a stop twenty-five meters away from Drago. Drago caught sight of him and charged over to Hiccup. Good thing that Hiccup saw him coming, and he drew his fire sword, and engaged battle with Drago. He was doing pretty well against Drago, but then the sinister man hooked his weapon onto Hiccup's prosthetic, and with a sharp yank he pulled the false limb off of the Dragon Chief's leg, making him collapse to the ground! To make matters worse, Drago kicked away Hiccup's sword.

Hiccup began crawling away from Drago, but not only was he missing his false limb, the shoulder wearing the armor that his Dragonstone was hidden in was beginning to hurt badly, and his vision was beginning to blur!

"You're a miserable excuse for a Dragon Chief, as I've heard you were called now. Look around, I _will_ prevail!" Drago declared. He grabbed Hiccup by the hair and directed his attention over to Astrid and Stormfly. Stormfly was one of the dragons who'd been wounded, and she was severely cut on the leg, and Astrid was facing against the golden Guardian. The golden Guardian knocked Hiccup's goddess off her feet with a sweep of her tail. She moved in to execute Astrid with the sharp arrow on her tail. Astrid never got to her feet, but when the tail was brought down, Astrid scrambled away in time for the blow to not be deadly, but as she escaped, the golden Guardian sliced off her right foot, and Astrid screamed in agony.

"ASTRID!" Hiccup screamed. His heart felt as if a rusty dagger had stabbed it and his shoulder was now in agonizing pain. Drago threw his head to the ground as Valka swooped down and removed Astrid from the battlefield, and to the safety of the Whispering Death tunnels where she would be helped.

Drago kicked Hiccup in the ribs, turning him over so he could look into Hiccup's heartbroken green eyes. Drago pulled out a dagger and raised it above his head. Hiccup's breathing had grown heavier as his whole body went into agony, and his vision blurred.

"HICCUP!" Villagers all around screamed when they saw Drago's dagger about to sink into the Dragon Chief's heart…

… And it was all just a flash of light.

**_To Be Continued_**


	15. Chapter 15: Berk's Strength

**Chapter 15: Berk's Strength**

**_COVER YOUR BUTT!_**

The flash of light sent a shockwave that sent Drago Bludvist back several meters, and knocked him on his ass.

The source of the bright light and the blast came from where Hiccup had been. However, when the villagers, his family, and dragons looked over to where Hiccup had been, he wasn't there! In his place was another Night Fury with a white tattoo of a dragon silhouette on his left shoulder and it was missing part of his left hind leg… but that could only mean one thing: In an effort to protect Hiccup, the Dragonstone turned him into a Night Fury!

Hiccup got up to his feet and immediately noticed the change his body went through. He was now a dragon, and a Night Fury at that! It will be a real game-changer in this fight now. He turned to face Drago as the one-armed man got to his feet, and Hiccup snarled at him.

"You have a Dragonstone, so you can understand me, Drago Bludvist." Hiccup stated. He hobbled over to his foe, he could only use three legs, and then he told Drago: "This is Berk. It's twelve days north of hopeless, and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It snows nine months of the year and hails the other three. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless; the people who live here are even more so; and to stay warm in this cold, we keep those who are dear to our hearts close by. We have fishing, hunting, a charming view of the sunsets, and dragon racing. Life here is amazing! Until _you_ showed up! This island is our home, Drago, and these people will defend it; and as their Chief, I will defend them!"

Drago got to his feet, holding his billhook over his head; now that Hiccup was a dragon, he could try to take control over him. However, Hiccup saw that coming; and so he reared up to his one hind leg, wings extended for balance, and with a great swipe with the claws on his left foreleg, he brought them down onto Drago, dislodging his nose from his face and entangling it into his repulsive dreadlocks!

From above, Hiccup's friends, family, and dragons saw what happened to him; even Astrid caught a glimpse of it before she was carried into the tunnel.

"I did not believe that Hiccup could possess a rage like that." Stoick stated.

_Since when is Hiccup a raging warrior?_ Toothless thought to himself.

There was reason for them to think like this. It took a lot to make Hiccup angry, but now, he was putting the 'fury' in 'Night Fury'. Before Hiccup could land a fatal blow on Drago, he called to the golden Guardian, saddled up on her, and took flight.

Hiccup had plenty of airtime on Toothless, but the closest thing he came to flying on his own was his flying-squirrel suit. So, it was amazing to see Hiccup take-off flawlessly and pursue Drago with ease. It was as if he'd been flying, using his own wings, his whole life.

Bit by bit the battle on the ground slowed as the people of Berk watched their draconic Chief pursued Drago relentlessly, and soon flew out of sight!

* * *

Underground, Astrid and Stormfly were having their wounds being tended to. Astrid screamed as Gothi wrapped a cloth bandage over her stump that had been soaked in a solution to keep her wound from getting infected. Sure the solution was supposed to help, but it still stung; and Astrid's scream had Stormfly scared for her.

Alvin was also down there, while bravely defending his Timberjack, Blade, he'd taken a Wyvern's poisonous barb to his left eye. He was there to get the poison out of him and to get the remains of his eye removed before infection occurred. As for Blade, he lost about two feet of length of his tail after it was bitten off by one of the Quetzalcoatl, so Blade landed before he was blinded by the pain and hurt Alvin as well as himself.

Even though Alvin was in quite a bit of pain himself, he heard Astrid's cries of agony, and saw as she was trying to hold back her tears from not just the pain, but from being scared and shocked. Alvin took a deep breath and told Astrid in the gentlest voice he could muster: "You fought well, and you fought bravely, Astrid. It's okay to shed tears now."

So, Astrid finally let go of her warrior pride and allowed her tears to fall. Alvin shifted his chair over to the blanket-covered pile of dirt that served as Astrid's bed, and he held her hand telling her: "You'll get through this. You're one of the strongest women warriors I've ever seen. You've thought against my Outcasts, Berserkers, and other foes; I've seen you pin a Monstrous Nightmare's horns to the ground and fly it later on. I wish _all_ of the outcasts were more like you."

Astrid smiled, tears were still rolling down her cheeks, but thanks to Alvin's words, she was feeling better.

A moment later, Snotlout entered the room with a nasty scratch on his face, a missing forefinger, and something smelled like it was burning. He was grumbling under his breath.

"What are you crying about, boy?" Alvin asked.

"Hookfang threw me off while fighting one of the Wyverns, then one of Drago's Terrible Terrors bit my finger off, and then a Guardian gives me second-degree _burns_ on my _ass!_" Snotlout exclaimed. Astrid took off her remaining boot and threw it at him, striking his face and she screamed: "I LOST A WHOLE DAMN _FOOT_! MUTTONHEAD!"

Snotlout took one look at her bandaged stump, and immediately he gave her a sincere apology.

* * *

Up in the skies, Drago thought that he'd finally lost Hiccup through the mass of dragons and the cloud cover, until a black shadow shot upwards in front of his golden Guardian. It was Hiccup, and as he locked his slit-pupil, emerald-green, furious eyes with Drago's, he snarled: "Hello, my name is Chief Hiccup Haddock III. You nearly killed my father. Prepare to die."

"_Nearly?_" Drago questioned.

Hiccup didn't answer; he only raised his claws, and stuck the golden dragon's face, leaving a scar behind on her jaw. Drago turned his golden away from Hiccup, and he charged after them. He caught up to the golden dragon, took her tail in his claws, spun her around, and snarled: "Hello, my name is Chief Hiccup Haddock III. You attacked our home! Prepare to die!" He threw the golden dragon, and it just missed getting stuck by one of the Skrills. Again, Hiccup chased after them.

Fortunately, for Drago, his dragon caught her bearings in front of his Bewilderbeast.

Blinded by his rage, the only characters Hiccup saw were Drago and the dragon he was riding on. He didn't even take into account that Drago was currently giving an order to the Bewilderbeast. Then, his mind was filled with the voice of the colossal enemy:

"Night Fury, I command you now! Attack the Vikings!"

That phrase repeated constantly inside Hiccup's head, his vision blurred, his pupils were slivers rather than slits, and he was beginning to feel that some demon was trying to possess him. The only things keeping him from attacking his own people were his own sheer willpower and the Dragonstone's power inside him. When the stone transformed him it dissolved inside him and gave him everything he would need in order to protect himself and his home… but it could only do so much.

"Hiccup!" Toothless exclaimed. At his sides were his family and Hiccup's parents; and he alerted them that the Bewilderbeast and Drago were trying to control Hiccup, and they hovered, ready to take orders.

"Cloudjumper, Shadowrath, distract the Alpha! Sapphire, get Drago away from Hiccup! Midnightfire, you're coming with me!" Toothless ordered. As Cloudjumper passed Drago, Valka smacked him upside the head with her staff.

Cloudjumper and Shadowrath decided to combine their shots. First, the Stormcutter fired, and then Shadowrath fired where Cloudjumper's flame hit the Bewilderbeast, creating an impressive explosion. It was also helping Hiccup resist the trance the enslaved monster was trying to put him in.

Sapphire had also done a fine job chasing Drago away by shooting at the golden dragon.

Now Toothless and Midnightfire were able to approach Hiccup and try to break him out of the Bewilderbeast's control. Aric would've been able to help, but he was dealing with the Red Death at the moment.

"Hiccup, Buddy, can you hear me. I need you to come out of it! Come back to me, please buddy!" Toothless pleaded as Hiccup thrashed his head in attempt to get the Bewilderbeast's commands out of it; but he was building up enough plasma to make his scales glow

Midnightfire perched on the back of Hiccup's neck and pleaded: "Uncle Hiccup, I need you to come back to us."

That little Night Fury's voice was all Hiccup needed to hear for him to snap out of the trance, turn, discharge his plasma blast at the Bewilderbeast's side, missing his parents' by a long shot, and sending the massive dragon toppling over on its side.

"THAT'S MY BOY!" Stoick boomed as he watched his draconic son fire that crazy blast. Valka saw it too, but she was at a loss for words.

"It's good to have you back, Buddy." Toothless told Hiccup.

"Thanks for your help; and yours too, Midnightfire." He replied, his pupils were now round. With Midnightfire still perched on his back, he turned to face his parents, smiled, and waved as a gesture to follow him as he told Toothless: "Now let's go help Sapphire."

Once they left some more dragons to keep the Bewilderbeast busy, the family pursued after Drago, but not without Stoick telling Hiccup: "You can't let your anger blind you to your surroundings. If that happens, you'll end up under that Bewilderbeast's control, or worse!"

"I got it, Dad!" Hiccup replied, but all Stoick could hear were dragon noises.

Weaving through the masses of dragons, firing only when necessary, they caught up to Drago and his dragon, and Hiccup flew parallel to them saying: "Hello, my name is Hiccup Haddock III! Your dragon cut off my wife's foot! Prepare to die!"

He then locked claws with the golden Guardian, and Midnightfire blasted the Guardian's face as Hiccup pulled them in a dive-bomb maneuver. He broke away from Drago and his dragon just at the right time where he could turn and land safely, but still have Drago crash into the ground!

Hiccup waited for Drago to get to his feet before landing. He circled Drago, giving him a vicious roar: "HELLO, MY NAME IS HICCUP HADDOCK III! YOU TORTURE DRAGONS! PREPARE TO DIE!"

After seeing, and hearing, Hiccup and Drago, the fight on the ground just _stopped_ as villagers and dragons _needed_ to see how things played out between the enemies. Even dragons in the sky stopped fighting to see what events would occur.

"Stop saying that, you horrendous Chief!" Drago snapped. Hiccup pounced him snarling: "Horrendous is my middle name! HELLO, MY NAME IS CHIEF HICCUP _HORRENDOUS_ HADDOCK III! YOU TESTED THE STRENGTH OF BERK! PREPARE TO DIE!" As he was powering up the fatal plasma blast, the Guardian swiped her tail, knocking him off her rider.

After seeing that happen to her son, Valka ordered Cloudjumper to deliver a mighty wing blast; and he sent the Guardian across the battlefield!

Hiccup got back up to his feet, reared up on his hind leg, and began swiping at Drago. At the same time, Drago was using his billhook as a quarterstaff to land blows on Hiccup's head. The two of them fought in this fashion for several minutes. At one point Hiccup's claws caught Drago's dragonskin cloak and he tore it off of his shoulders! Then, Hiccup got back down on all threes, and with a good whack with his tail, Hiccup knocked Drago off of his feet!

Unfortunately he got back up to his feet and had the time to shout: "ENOUGH! I alone will control the dragons! I am the Dragon God; and I will not rest until _every_ dragon from all over the _world_ is under my power! I will enslave them all, and they will all bow to me!" As he ranted, on, Hiccup noticed that the Dragonstone set in his chest plate was beginning to glow. On a hunch, Hiccup fired at the stone. Not only was the stone dislodged from Drago's chest plate, but the stone also discharged a bolt of magic at Drago.

Drago screamed a ghastly scream as the power of his Dragonstone shrank his form! All that the villagers could see of him was his chest plate. As Toothless went to approach the loose Dragonstone, Midnightfire promptly swiped it.

A moment later, something crept out from underneath the chest plate. It was a black Terrible Terror with three legs with a comically pissed-off expression on its face. Hiccup smiled smugly, and hunched down ready to finish the job the second the tiny Drago showed any threat. However, the Bewilderbeast saw an even greater opportunity! For too long, he'd been Drago's slave! For too long, he'd been forced to aid Drago in his quest! Now, it was time for Drago to see what it feels like to be enslaved! Drago's eyes narrowed into slits and he tossed up his wings as his Bewilderbeast summoned him.

Drago was flying towards the Bewilderbeast, and as it was planning on how to make Drago suffer for his crimes, a great shadowy dragon flew across his line of flight, and _ate_ him! The last sound Drago made was a pathetic squeak! As for the shadowy dragon that finally finished him off, Hiccup and Toothless just assumed that it was either a dark blue Monstrous Nightmare or a Skrill, it moved too fast for them to tell.

"Well now… So that's the end of Drago Bludvist." Toothless stated.

"Yeah, I did not see that dark dragon coming, did you?" Hiccup replied. Toothless shook his head.

A moment later, Hiccup felt a hand on him, he looked over and saw his mother's face, and she asked him: "Would you like to go and see Astrid now?" Hiccup nodded and followed her to the tunnels.

* * *

**That concludes Chapter 15, and I hope that it was as epic as I led you guys to believe. So, am I forgiven for the cliffhanger of Chapter 14?**


	16. Chapter 16: After the Storm

**Chapter 16: After the Storm**

Astrid watched as Valka entered the tunnel with a three-legged Night Fury in her tow. He took one look at Astrid, took a great leap, and landed right next to her bedside. Looking down at her sweet face, he saw that her eyes were red from tears; and looking down to her feet, he saw the bandaged stump, and let out a low growl.

"Hiccup." Astrid spoke softly. He looked into Astrid's eyes with a soft gaze. At the moment he'd give anything to be able to turn back into human so he could kiss her; but his stone wouldn't allow it for the next few days, Drago's wouldn't either as it transformed him, Aric had the second one Toothless made, and Midnightfire was going around helping to heal other dragons with hers. Unable to kiss his wife, Hiccup closed his eyes and pressed his short snout onto Astrid's cheek letting out a soft purr as he did.

Alvin entered their cavern a short while later, wearing a bandage over his missing eye, and found the Night Fury cuddling with Astrid.

"So, who's your friend?" Alvin asked her.

"Didn't you see that flash of light? It turned Hiccup into a dragon, and this is him!" She replied.

"Well, that is awkward… You're taking your title as: Dragon Chief a bit literal." Alvin stated. Hiccup shrugged, Alvin did have a point; and a moment later, Midnightfire flew into the cavern to check up on her Uncle Hiccup.

Astrid looked over to Valka and asked her: "So, what happened to Drago?"

"Yeah, what happened to the mad bastard?" Alvin interjected.

"I think that Hiccup would like to be the one to tell the two of you." Valka replied.

"B-but _he_ won't be able to tell us for another couple of days without a Dragonstone!" Astrid exclaimed. Valka called Midnightfire over to her and tickled her so she dropped the Dragonstone Drago had found, in which she had snatched. After removing the stone, she handed it over to Alvin, and also placed Astrid's hand on it.

"Can you understand me now?" Hiccup asked. Alvin was a bit surprised to be able to understand the Dragon Chief, and merely nodded in response.

"Yeah, I can understand you." Astrid replied.

"Okay, so this is what happened to Drago: After I transformed, I scratched off his nose with my claws. He later fled from me on the back of that golden dragon that cut your foot off, Astrid, but I pursued him in a rage." Hiccup began.

"Since when do you get in a rage?" Astrid asked.

"There's a first time for everything, I suppose. Now, eventually, Drago did try to take control over me, but with a little help, I managed to stay out of the trance. I dueled things out with Drago, and as he was shouting, I noticed that his Dragonstone was glowing; it was as if the stone wanted to help us bring an end to his tyranny. So, I shot it, and it turned Drago into a Terrible Terror that was missing a leg and part of his snout. I would've killed him myself, as I kept telling him: '_Prepare to die!'_ but then his own Bewilderbeast took control over him! As the Bewilderbeast summoned him, he was eaten by a large, shadowy, dragon; which Toothless and I deduced to be either a dark Monstrous Nightmare or a Skrill, it was moving pretty fast." Hiccup told them.

"Sounds like a satisfying end to me." Alvin replied.

* * *

Fishlegs and Meatlug watched as the exotic dragons, and the Red Death, took flight to return to their homeland. Drago's Bewilderbeast had nowhere to go and it had just traveled around the world and it wanted rest.

However, when Fishlegs turned his head, he caught sight of the beautiful golden Guardian, the sun started poking through the cloud cover, and it made her scales sparkle. Fishlegs took a couple steps towards the Guardian with Meatlug grumbling in protest.

"That's the dragon that Drago was riding, and the dragon that cut off Astrid's foot." Fishlegs stated as he was taking note of the blood splattered on the arrow of her tail. Looking over to Meatlug, he told her: "She looks pretty calm now, but she appears to be a bit upset too. Maybe Aric will allow us to borrow his Dragonstone and we could all talk together."

They flew over to Aric, who healed dragons as they approached him, but his waiting line was winding down. When he was done healing them, Fishlegs came up and requested Aric give him the Dragonstone for a while. Aric had no use for it at the present time now so he allowed Fishlegs to borrow it.

Returning to the golden dragon, Fishlegs slowly approached her with a fish Meatlug caught on the return trip. The Guardian looked up and with a low grumble, she asked him: "What do you want?"

"I just want to know why you seem to be so upset. You're one of the most beautiful dragons I've ever seen, and I don't understand why you're not flying around celebrating your freedom." Fishlegs replied.

"Flying and celebrating freedom does sound appealing, but there's one problem… I'm not supposed to be a dragon. I'm supposed to be a human princess."

"Umm, excuse me for a moment. I just need to get our Chief." Fishlegs told her. He gave her the fish for her to eat, and ran for the tunnels.

* * *

Gobber fitted a peg on Hiccup's leg, telling him: "I know that you're going to be stuck like this for only a few days, but you can't fly everywhere, it's just not practical, and this will make walking easier for you."

Hiccup thanked him, but Astrid had to translate. Hiccup tested the peg by taking a few steps and told Gobber, who'd been given Drago's Dragonstone: "This'll do nicely for a few days. Now I only wish that I knew where my prosthetic is."

"Why don't I just heal your leg, Uncle Hiccup? You healed my daddy's tail with your stone." Midnightfire suggested.

"My prosthetic didn't slow me down, and I wasn't reliant on Toothless to walk. Now, Toothless' false fin did slow him down, and he couldn't fly unless I was on his saddle, so he couldn't take any romantic flights with your mother unless I went with them. I also didn't want other dragons to take advantage of his disability and challenge him. Besides, that false leg has been the symbol of our friendship, and I actually like the thing." Hiccup replied. By now Astrid had been given the Dragonstone from Gobber.

"In that case, I'll go and find it for you." Midnightfire told him, and she took off.

"Hiccup!" A voice exclaimed, and a moment later Fishlegs entered the cavern with Meatlug.

"Fishlegs, what's going on and where did you get that Dragonstone?" Hiccup asked.

"I got the stone from Aric, but that's not important. What is important is what the golden Guardian has to tell you; you need to speak to her!" He replied.

"Astrid, do you want to hop on my back and come with?" Hiccup asked. She was no longer bleeding so she'd be fine as long as Hiccup wasn't traveling too rough.

"No, that's the dragon that cut off my foot!" Astrid replied. Hiccup nodded and pressed his snout against her face and followed Fishlegs to the gold dragon.

At the sight of Hiccup, the Guardian reared up like a spooked horse, backed away with a shriek, and said to Fishlegs: "_He's_ your _Chief?_ He gave me this scratch on the jaw and tossed me through the sky! Not to mention what I did to that poor girl when I was possessed."

"That girl happened to be my wife, too. However, I am quick to forgive if I find it necessary, so if you want to redeem yourself, I suggest you tell me about what you told Fishlegs, here, and all the details." Hiccup replied.

The Guardian elaborated on how her parents sent her to the tower, to the point where she watched Drago fight the dragon protecting her, how in awe she was with him, and how he offended her so she touched the Dragonstone and turned herself into a dragon, and then how Drago took her away to live among the other dragons he'd captured.

"We will help you, Princess…" Hiccup started.

"Claudette."

"Princess Claudette, but first, as Chief of Berk I would be interested in establishing a route of trade with your kingdom. We make weapons among other things, and we've got the best fishermen in the Archipelago."

"I'd be happy to! However, I can't return home without being betrothed to _somebody!_ Someone brave and good, someone who could've rescued me from my tower." Claudette replied. Hiccup took a quick glance at Fishlegs and told her: "Well, one of our finest single men here is standing right next to me. Didn't you see him face the Red Death? He is brave, smart, and he's got a good heart."

"My kingdom doesn't take to dragons very well, but Fishlegs, you do sound worthy."

"Are there any other possible heirs to your kingdom? Then you can stay here with us… once we rebuild." Hiccup replied.

"I think we can make that work." Claudette stated.

"Great, once I can turn human again in a couple days from now, we'll set sail for your kingdom and discuss the arrangements… and Fishlegs, are you open to marrying the woman she becomes?"

"Whoa, let us not talk about marriage yet. After what happened between Drago and I, I've found out that it is best to not fall in love at first sight; you should get to know people first before you leap into a big commitment to them; but for the record, Fishlegs, I have golden hair, green eyes, fair skin, and I enjoy reading and sewing."

"I enjoy reading myself." Fishlegs replied.

"I'm glad that the two of you had found something to talk about, but, Fishlegs, I think that Claudette would like to return to her human form again." Hiccup spoke up.

"Exactly how do I do that anyway?" Claudette asked.

"It's easy, you just press your nose onto the Dragonstone, and picture yourself turning human again. In your case it would be best if you did it indoors, as you'll not have a stitch on your body when you turn back." Hiccup replied. Aric had swam up to their part of the cliff and told them: "She'll have to wait about as long as you have to, Hiccup, only the Dragonstone that transformed you can change you back, and you just used the power of Drago's Dragonstone to turn him into a Terrible Terror. By the way, his Bewilderbeast thanks you for doing that."

"Ok, Aric, and by the way, I've been hoping to ask you this: Why was Drago's stone glowing when I fired at it and turned him." Hiccup replied.

"Dragonstones know when they're being misused, his was working on betraying him, and you just helped it out. As for you, your stone knew of your situation and gifted you with what you needed to fight Drago off. The stone is actually inside you, in a way, as an energy living inside you. To turn back all you have to do is picture yourself as a human again and as you change, your case will have you clothed again, and the stone will form in your grasp."

"Thank you, Aric." Hiccup replied. He then left Fishlegs with Claudette to chatter amongst themselves, and to tell Astrid Claudette's story.

Astrid was actually quite interested in the back-story of the dragon that cut off her foot, and while she will resent what she did to her, Astrid was sympathetic as to how she was turned. After telling the story, Hiccup went out with Drago's stone and assigned his father as the acting Chief for while he was stuck as a dragon, he later on asked Alvin (moving about now) to help with the rebuilding process with promise of payment in fish and some more dragons, he tracked down Toothless and told him Claudette's story so he knew why she was sticking around, and came back to Astrid to spend the night wrapped around her like she did for him when she was a Stormcutter.

* * *

**PLEASE READ: I apologize for this delay between chapters without telling you all that I was taking a break from the story. I was attending family affairs and I'm not a fast writer. In the reviews for Chapter 15, I'm surprised that nobody commented on the ****_Princess Bride_**** spoof in there with the "Hello, my name is Hiccup. You nearly killed my father. Prepare to die". Now, after this chapter I only plan on writing one or two more, and I'm not really planning on a sequel. So if you guys want a sequel, I will give it to you, if you ask, and include plot ideas. I actually would like to write a sequel where I can give Hiccup and Astrid a kid. **


	17. Chapter 17: Dragon Days

**Chapter 17: Dragon Days**

**Warning: For those of you who are: drinking or eating, either finish whatever you have up or set it aside. Gross description to follow.**

The first thing the people of Berk did, was they built a forge, and not even a full smithy, just the forge. That way Gobber could start making nails that would hold houses together. He was working non-stop and had to enlist the help of others to meet the extremely high demand of his supply.

Despite his good nature, Hiccup saw fit to start sending fleets to pillage materials such as wood and metal to rebuild Berk. Even Toothless instructed dragons to go out and pillage. However, those who remained, they donated their weapons they could afford to spare in order to make nails and other parts houses needed.

After getting tired of making nothing but nails and other parts for houses, after only two days of working on this project day and night, he finally asked Hiccup if he could take a break from it and make Astrid a nice false foot. Hiccup agreed to it and drew up a design for it in the dirt with his claws. Ever since Astrid's injury, she'd been walking around wearing a peg on her stump and she didn't like it. However she was glad to be walking around again.

Hiccup left Gobber to his work and brought the latest batch of nails over to the next building being constructed. It was their food storage, and so far they've been able to do a fine job constructing it.

"Thank you, Chief Hiccup." Spitelout stated upon accepting the batch of nails.

As Hiccup walked away from the building site, he found Midnightfire flying towards him while holding a leg of mutton.

"Whoa, slow down there, what's going on?" Hiccup asked her.

"I've found someone I want you to meet in the ice fortress." She replied. Hiccup stretched his wings and took off after her. During the time he spent as a dragon, after the battle, he found just how amazing it felt to be able to fly on his own. He spent as much time in the air as he could, but he wasn't just flying around, he was also helping other dragons to bring in the fish Aric had rounded up and make sure that his people and other dragons were being fed. He also went on a trip to another enemy tribe with the other dragons to pillage sheep, yaks, chickens, and building materials for his people. So while he was doing a lot of flying around and having a good time, he was also helping his people out.

Now inside the fortress of ice, Midnightfire led Hiccup over to a magnificent Skrill. This one was the largest Hiccup had ever seen, and was a female. Unfortunately, she wasn't looking too well. Hiccup took her chin and looked at her eyes, and they kept dilating.

"Hey, girl, what's wrong with you?" Hiccup asked.

"Her name is Whoshadow, and she was the dragon who ate Drago." Midnightfire replied.

"Ah, no wonder you're not feeling well." Hiccup stated. Midnightfire handed her the leg of mutton, but while the dragon took it, she saved it for later, but she wasn't eating. This had Hiccup worried for her, and so he told Midnightfire: "I'm going to get my mother, maybe she can help her out." He spread his wings and flew off to gather his mother.

Thanks to the Dragonstone Drago left behind, which Valka had a hold of; she was able to understand the problem at hand. After gathering a few herbs around the island and boiling them in a misshapen pot for a while she hopped on Hiccup's back, both of them finding it awkward, and they returned to the Skrill.

"Yeah, Drago is definitely disagreeing with her." Valka stated.

"Why did you eat him?" Midnightfire asked Whoshadow.

"I just wanted to _end_ him." She growled. Valka gave her the herbal brew, which could probably be classified as tea now that they've thought about it. Whoshadow was reluctant to drink it but she eventually stood up and drank it. Valka then stepped towards the dragon, and proceeded to tickle her belly.

Whoshadow liked the tickling, but then she started gagging, and something rolled over her tongue and landed with a repulsive 'SPLAT'. What came out of her had Hiccup chewing on the fish he had for breakfast that morning! What came out of the Skrill were the remains of a, chewed up, partially digested, black Terrible Terror. The head was missing a part of its snout (missing ever since Hiccup clawed Drago's nose off) and an eye; some of the flesh had been digested, and part of the vertebrae was sticking out of the neck. The Skrill also regurgitated limbs without claws, a few organs, and a broken-up torso of the black Terrible Terror. Despite all of that nastiness that crawled up from the Skrill's stomach, Whoshadow regained her appetite and chowed down on the leg of mutton.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Hiccup stated after he looked away from Drago's remains. Valka climbed back on him and he took off for the building village.

Not a minute after they landed, and Valka had gotten off Hiccup's back, Toothless crept up on Hiccup, and playfully bit his tail. Hiccup let out a startled yelp, and glared at Toothless. The troublemaking dragon hunched down and playfully pounced around Hiccup.

"What are you trying to get me to do?" Hiccup asked. Toothless shot a small plasma blast at him and took to the skies with Hiccup behind him. The two dragons flew around for about half an hour, causing others to look up and watch them for a while. Hiccup is the best dragon rider on Berk, with maybe the exception of Valka, but nobody thought that Hiccup had enough of a dragon spirit to be able to match every trick that Toothless was capable of doing!

"Are they racing?" Astrid asked when she saw the two Night Furies soaring through the air.

That's what it looks like to me." Gobber replied. Now looking at Astrid, he told her: "Hiccup designed this for you, and I built it." Astrid looked down and found that Gobber was holding a false foot for her. It was simple enough to look aesthetically pleasing, but complex enough to behave like a real foot.

Gobber sat Astrid down on a nearby boulder to remove the peg she'd been standing on, and then he fitted the new prosthetic on her. She took a few steps with her remaining foot being bare, and it was working beautifully.

"Thank you Gobber, this will work nicely!" She responded.

When Gobbler left, she looked to the sky again and watched as Hiccup and Toothless chased each other some more, and then landed in front of her. She didn't have a Dragonstone, but she didn't need it to tell that Hiccup was wondering if she liked it or not.

"I love it, Hiccup, it works beautifully." She told him. Hiccup smiled.

* * *

In the meantime, if anyone found Fishlegs, he would be with Meatlug and the golden Guardian. He was still in possession of the Dragonstone he borrowed from Aric. He and Claudette would talk about various books they've read, and discuss the differences in their cultures. Fishlegs would write her poetry based on their lives, and they grew ever fonder of each other. By now, Hiccup had scheduled a date where they'd head for Claudette's kingdom to establish a trade route and terms for Fishlegs's engagement with her. No promises that they'd actually be married yet, but things were looking up in their relationship after only a few days.

* * *

On that night, Astrid went to bed in the tunnels where the people of Berk and the Outcast visitors were spending their nights. Hiccup was curled up on the floor beside her; but on that morning, she woke up to the feeling of Hiccup's tender hands stroking her hair. Her eyes widened and she squealed with delight! She threw herself on top of him and covered his face in kisses.

From the threshold of their private cavern, they heard a trill from Midnightfire. Since Hiccup transformed back into human form with the clothes he was wearing in the battle, he'd placed the Dragonstone in its shoulder armor, so there really wasn't a way of understanding the young Night Fury.

"Good morning, Astrid, and good morning Midnightfire." Hiccup stated once his wife allowed him to breathe.

Midnightfire cooed and then let out a roar that summoned her parents and Shadowrath. Astrid got out of the bed and pulled Hiccup's Dragonstone out of its hiding place, and brought it over to Hiccup. Unlike her husband, Astrid didn't mind sleeping in her prosthetic.

Shadowrath brought over Hiccup's false leg, and Hiccup's parents entered the cavern as he was strapping it on.

"It's good to have you back, Son." Stoick stated, clapping a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"It is, isn't it? Although, I'll admit, I will miss the wings and the tail." He replied.

"I'll agree, those were fun to have." Astrid added, recalling her time as a Stormcutter. A moment later, Fishlegs stuck his head inside the cavern and asked: "May Claudette and I come in?"

"Sure, Fishlegs." Hiccup replied. He was expecting a golden dragon to come in after Fishlegs, but no, this was a woman with golden hair, fair skin, green eyes, wearing a tunic made from a sheet, and she was holding Drago's Dragonstone.

"So that's what you really look like. You're quite impressive, Claudette." Hiccup stated.

"Thank you, Dragon Chief." She replied. Hiccup looked back over to Astrid, who was watching Toothless and his family interacting together, mainly watching how Sapphire was trying to wash her hatchling while Midnightfire was trying to grab onto her dad's leg and pull herself away to escape.

"What are you thinking about, Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

"I want that to be us." She replied. Looking at the familial scene, Hiccup looked back at her.

"You know what, Astrid, I do too." He replied.

* * *

**This concludes the story. Thank you all for viewing, following, adding this to your favorites, and for reviewing. Since you guys seem to be in favor for a sequel, well then I'll write a sequel. I'll see you guys next time in another Dragonstone story.**


	18. AN

**The Sequel is Up!'**

**Title:**

**The Dragonstone Tribe**


End file.
